KOTOR : A New Beginning
by OrchidLurver
Summary: Chapter 13 Now UP! Plz Read and Review. Lets leave Taris already, shall we?...LSFRevan/Carth...Rated T for language and content for now
1. Chapter 1 : Boarding the Endar Spire

_Ok. So now, I will have two stories on the go for KOTOR. I decided to write a w/t for Kotor featuring my Char Keira. It just makes sense I guess. I really wanted to put my ideas into writing of what I think might have happened. Thanks for reading this and please review. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer :I do not own any of the Stat Wars Chars accept Keira, she's mine so back off get your own sandwich!**

**Chapter 1 Boarding the Endar Spire**

Keira studies the data pad in her hand, while walking up the Endar Spire's ramp. Bumping shoulder to shoulder with Republic soldiers as she makes her way to her chamber through the crowded hall ways.

"Ok. So this looks like the right place." She hits a button on the side of the door and it opens. "Not bad, I guess. It's a lot better then jail I suppose." She tosses her bag on the floor and slumps down heavily onto her bed of choice. The past few weeks had been very odd.

Three weeks ago, she had awaken in a med bay on a ship. As she had studied her surroundings more closely, she had begun to realize that she was in a med bay. Once she was no longer droggy, her doctor had aloud visitors. There was only one. An off icier of the Republic. He had approached her with terms of her release.

"Release? From what?"

"Keira. Wanted fugitive on several accounts. Fraud. Kidnapping. Smuggling. This list goes on and on. However, your most recent felony."

"Recent?" She couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Why was he lecturing her about stuff she knew she had done. He didn't have to list it.

"Yes. Kidnapping and..."

"Now look here. That wasn't my fault. Those people were slaves and wanted off that damn planet. I was on my way out so I figured..."

"Madame. You have to understand that on some planets slavery is not outlawed, yet. So taking those people was an act of felony. Not only did you provide them with a way off the planet, you managed to take a few liberties yourself."

"Hey I didn't say I was inocent..." She frowned. She couldn't believe that this is what she had gotten to wake up to.

"Either way. I'm here to discuss your release."

"If there are so many charges on me, why am I being released?"

"Well, there are terms. You have to agree to sign and follow through with a contract. Otherwise, you will be shipped out and await termination." He was serious.

"Termination? Your people revived me with the threat of termination?" She couldn't believer her ears. Of course she was going to have to agree to whatever it is they wanted of her.

The officer handed her a data pad. " You are to board the Endar Spire in three weeks. As per request of the Jedi Council. You will have the task of translator and second adviser..."

"Second?"

"Yes. As I was saying. You will have the task of translator and second adviser to the Jedi Bastilla Shan."

"Oh this just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?" Keira couldn't help but roll her eyes at the mention of a Jedi. The all so high and mighty. She really couldn't put her finger on it then or now, but for some reason, she didn't trust the Jedi and probably never would.

"So Officer, where do I sign in blood?" She had thought the remark was humorous, apperently she had been the only one.

Now, three weeks later, she lays staring at the ceiling in her room. Apparently, she has a bunk mate, there was an extra pack and some clothing on the opposite bed, but he or she was nowhere to be found.

"Oh well, I guess introductions will have to wait."

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Hoped you liked my First chapter!! Plz R and R!!


	2. Chapter 2 : Damn Sith!

_Chapter 2. This one I really like. I will add Chapter 3 as soon as I can. Please let me know what you think. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer : I don't own any star wars characters...boohoo**

**Chapter 2 : Damn Sith!**

Keira's body awakes from her slumber with a quick jerk. "What in the..." Quickly she understands why she's awake. The ship seems to be under attack and is rocking violently. A loud explosion is heard down the hall and she grips her head trying to calm the ringing in her ears.

"Glad to see you're awake. Come on we got to get out of here!"

"Wait a minute, who are you?"

"We don't really have time for this." He sighs heavily. "I'm Trask Ulgo, your bunk mate. I know, I know...we haven't formally met, but we work opposite shifts...anyways, grab your gear! We got to get the hell out of here!"

Quickly Keira heads for her pack, slaps on her outfit, pulls out her vibroblades and heads for the door. Trask looks at her with concern. "The ship is in emergency lock down. You're going to have to..."

Before he can even finish his sentence, Keira manages to slice the lock and the door opens. He smiles at her, obviously impressed "Ok, never mind." They jog a few meters down the hall just in time to see some Republic soldiers die at the hands of some Sith. With ought thinking, Keira charges for them with her vibroblades in an attack position. Trask yells something her way, but she ignores him. She slices through them with little effort. Looking at Trask from the corner of her eye, she is able to see that he's pretty handy with a blaster. He too has managed to collect a few dead Sith bodies.

"Good job. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Here and there." She replies, sending a wink in his direction.

"Well, we better head to the bridge. That's where we are probably needed." He motions for her to follow him and they head off.

They make their way to the bridge, encountering a few sith, but nothing they can't handle. Even before the doors open, they can hear the sounds of battle. Blaster shots, blade against blade. Emediately, Keira and Trask spring into action, the remaining Sith are no match for their combined skills. Keira dispatches through them fairly easy, while Trask sends blaster shots past her hitting the ones out of reach. She can't get over how much of a good team they make.

"Last one!" She hears him shout. They combine and take him down quickly.

"Wow, you're really good with those blasters."

"Yeah, well you're really good with those twin vibroblades." Trask lets out a small chuckles.

"It doesn't look like there is anyone here, we should probably find our way to the escape pods."

"Alright, lead the way." She wipes her blades on the back of a dead Sith Soldier and they move out.

"Just through these doors..." Trask and Keira stop dead in their tracks. The doors before them swing open and a Dark Jedi strides in. "Get out of here! Go through the next set of doors. Get to the escape pod, I'll hold him off!" Keira looks at Trask in horror. "Are you insane!? You can't take him on!"

He sends her a heroic glance and grips his own set of vibroblades. "I'll hold him off. You have to get out of here." With that, he charges the Dark Jedi and the doors close in front of her. She bangs her fists hard on the sealed metal doors. "Trask! No!"

Just as she's about to try and figure a way around the door, her communicator goes on. "_This is Carth Onasi. You need to get to the escape pods. Bastilla and some of the crew have already escaped. You are the only one still alive on the ship. I can't wait for you much longer so you need to get your ass here fast! I'll watch your progress and let you know if there are any dangers, but you have to be quick!"_

Sighing for Trask, knowing he will die, she darts off in the direction of the pods. Keira rounds a corner coming to a set of doors when her communicator goes on again. "_Ok. Looks like there are a few Sith on the other side of those doors. I hope you're good at repairing droids or handy with computers. Once you take them out you should be home free."_

Keira thinks a moment and then decides to hack the computer. She activates the security camera just on time to see all of the Sith drop from one big bolt of electricity. "Yes!" She hurries past the dead bodies and on through the next set of doors where Captain Onasi is waiting for her.

"Great you made it! Nice wok with the computer by the way. There's no one else on board."

"What about Bastilla are you sure she got away?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure she took an escape pod. Now lets go, this ship can't handle anymore!"

Keira secures her blades in her sack tosses them in the pod and straps herself to a seat. Carth seals the airlock and does the same. "Ready?" She gives him a nod and he hits the eject button. The decent to the planet is quick and ruff. The pod spins carelessly as it tumbles through the atmosphere. A red light goes off and an alarm starts to ring. Keira glances at Carth quickly and sees that for some reason he seems strangely calm, like he's done this a hundred times over.

"Damn Sith!" Carth manages between deep breaths. Relaxing his neck and allowing his eyes to focus, he remembers where he is. "Damn Sith!" He mutters again. He unties his harnest and looks around. For some reason, although sitting down, it feels like he's lying down. Looking straight ahead he can see hands dangling carelessly. "Ah crap!" He forgot about the woman. She was still harnessed in her seat dangling above him. "This isn't going to be fun..." She's unconscious, but alive, barely. He feels the side of her neck, there is a pulse, but it's weak. Carefully he unties her harness and she comes crashing on him with a thud. Lifting her dead weight off him slowly, he checks her over for any injuries. Carth notes that the only thing that seems to be wrong is a nice gash on her head. "Must of been from something loose in here."

He looks around the pod quickly and finds only her pack. "Good thing these stayed in there." He tucks away her vibroblades and begins working at the hatch. With a little effort and some muscle he manages to push it open. Carth scoops up the unconscious woman in his arms and stumbles into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3 : Waking up on Taris

**Chapter 3 : Waking up on Taris**

Carth stumbles, his vision still blurry, carrying the unconscious woman in his arms. Looking for shelter for the past half hour hasn't been easy. Sure this woman wasn't that heavy, but as time went by she sure seemed heavier. He wasn't sure if he was just loosing strength, or if that maybe he was injured in some way unknown to himself.

Finally he comes across what seems to be an abandoned apartment. Cautiously he enters through the doors. With a quick glance around he becomes more then certain that this place has not been used in quite some time. Gently he places the woman's limp body onto one of the two beds. He wraps her in the sheets left on the bed and winces in pain as he tucks them around her.

"Guess I got hit by something." Carth stares down at his lower right side to see a nice vertical gash and a fair amount of blood just above his hip bone. "Well at least I didn't ruin my jacket." He rolls his eyes at the thought of his jacket ever actually protecting him from harm. Slumping into a nearby chair he begins sorting through the strange woman's pack. "Great only two medpacs. Guess I will keep these for her, she's worse off then I am." He smiles lightly knowing he'll have to tend to his own wounds some other way.

"First things first." He kneels down by the bed and examines the woman's injury more thoroughly. "Hmm...got yourself a nice gash there sister. Nothing a little kolto can't fix." He places the back of his palm against her forehead and notices that she seems very warm. "Ok. I ain't got nothing round here to tell me so, but my guess is you have a fever as well." Pulling out the first medpac, he begins working on cleaning her wound and injecting her with the medpac's contents. "There, that should do for now."

Slumping back down into the chair, he removes his jacket and tosses it aside. Continuing his search through the woman's pack he finds a sowing kit. "Well this will have to do for now." He finds a needle and bends it slightly so that it forms an odd looking C shape. Wincing again in pain, he carefully removes his shirt, cleans out his wound, and then starts patching himself up. "I really have to stop getting banged up like this. Well guess it's a good thing I've done this before."

A few days pass, but the woman still lies unconscious. Carth had managed to get some scouting done in the nearby area, but never dared to linger far from the apartment. He had also managed to acquire some food and credits. Now he sits in the chair that has become familiar to him reading the datapad of information that was left in the woman's pack. He lets out a low whistle sound when he reaches the list that states her background, knowledge and training. He begins reading out loud in an attempt to better focus and register the information.

"Subject, Keira...that's odd no mention of a last name. Age, twenty-eight. No mention of a home-world. Background, unknown." He lifts an eyebrow at the mention of the unknown part. Why would the Republic and Council decide to transfer someone to the Endar without any information on them? He continues to read. " Knowledge, fluent in many alien languages, actual count, unknown. There sure is a lot unknown here. Training, hand to hand, melee, blasters, explosives..." He rambles on the rest and lets his eyes drift to his patient. "I can't believe this list. It goes on and on. Guess I'm going to need her help. All this seems a little too much to be coincidental." He brushes off his paranoia for the moment and heads for the other bed.

Halfway through the night, Carth is awakened by a woman's scream of terror. With his heart pounding in his chest, he rushes over to the side of the woman obviously now awake. "Hey are you alright?" She looks at him trying to focus on his face while her limbs tremble. "Don't worry. You're safe." He pulls her sheets up and wraps them around her shoulders.

"Where...where are we?" She manages to stammer.

"Taris. We landed here in the escape pod. You don't remember?" She gives him a quick nod of confusion. "Well I'm Carth Onasi. I was on the Endar Spire. We left the ship in an escape pod and crash landed here. Our ship was under attack by the Sith. We were the last survivors."

She stares at him almost with disbelief. "Nice to meet you. I'm Keira." She holds out her hand and he shakes it warmly. "So how did we end up here?"

Carth manages to give her all the details on how they managed to find this little apartment and how he has been taking care of her. He informs her of her nightmares and how she had been out for a few days. He hands her a ration pack, lets her know where the refresher is, and sits down in a chair.

"Wow, I guess I owe you my life." She shovels a few more bites of food in her mouth and glances up at him.

"I never left a soldier behind before, I'm not about to start now. Plus, I need your help." It was now Keira's turn to raise her brow.

"Help. With what?"

Carth stares at her in amazement. "Wow, you must of bumped your head harder then I thought. We need to find Bastila. You know the Jedi you were assigned to." He states matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember." He tosses her the datapad from her sack and she goes through it quickly. "Hmmm. I think I remember some of this." Carth hands her the rest of her belongings, along with her twin vibroblades.

"Sorry, I had to go through it to see if you had anything I could use to help you..." Keira smiles at him warmly and pats his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. So about finding Bastilla..."

Carth winces and then shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "Well the Republic needs her to defeat Malak. She's the key to the entire war effort, and frankly we need her to get of this planet. The Sith know that the Republic escape pods landed on Taris, so they have this entire planet under some kind of lock down. No one is allowed off the planet. I don't know how, but Malak managed to discover that Bastila was on the Endar Spire and attacked us. Anyways, we are going to need her. She can help us get off this planet."

Keira sighs and nods in agreement. "Uhmm by the way, you seem to be in pain. Are you alright?"

Carth stands up from his chair holding his side. "I'm fine nothing to worry about."

She gives him an unconvinced stare and shakes her head. "Ok. Well I'm going to get clean, and then we should head out and look around." She heads to the refresher and he can hear the sounds of the water. Carth slumps into his chair hard trying to relax his muscles.


	4. Chapter 4 : Onward March!

_OK. So here I made a few in game changes. Like I didn't use all the dialogue...haha probably never will use all of it. Also, instead of the Sith captain being accompanied by two droids, he's with fellow soldiers. This chapter is longer then the last and a bit more playful. I had a great time writing it. Hope you enjoy!_

**Disclaimer : I don't own any of the KOTOR chars.**

**Chapter 4 : Onward March!**

Keira finishes getting dress and heads for the main area of the apartment. There she finds Carth already suited up and polishing his blasters. "Good you're all done in there. I took the liberty of cleaning your vibroblades and making a few adjustments to them. Hope you don't mind." Keira looks at him with amusement. "Not at all, should come in handy." She picks up her twin blades and balances them in her hands. "Nice." She swings them quickly up over her shoulders and then down towards the ground. "Very nice." She sends a wink his way and heads for the doors, Carth at her heals. Keira stops hesitantly as she exits the apartment.

A group of Sith soldiers are standing around ordering a couple of aliens to get up against the wall. One of the braver Duros tries to explain to the young Captain that there had already been a patrol the day before and that he can't understand why they are constantly being bothered. For asking to many questions, the alien is rewarded with a blaster shot to the chest that kills him. Keira lets out a gasp of horror that the Captain no doubt hears. His focus now on herself and Carth. "What's this? Humans hiding out with aliens? They must be the Republic fugitives! Get them!"

Blaster shots whizz by their heads, once again Keira finds herself springing into action. Her instincts kick in and her knee delivers a heavy blow to the gut of one of the Sith soldiers, causing him to bend over in pain. Seeing the moment of opportunity, Carth aims his blasters and lands a clear shot on the temple of the fallen soldier. Nearly missing a blaster shot himself, he dodges to the left and begins firing at the captain, while Keira deals with the other soldier. A few moments go by and the two Sith followers fall to the ground limp.

"Good work. You're very talented with those things." He stares at her baldes covered in gore.

"You're not so bad yourself."

Cautiously, the alien that had been under attack, approaches them. _"Thank you. It's a good thing you came along when you did. Poor Ixgil, he should have known better. Don't worry about the bodies. I will move them so that it looks like they were killed else where."_

"Thank-you, that's very kind." Keira says her farewells and heads down the hall.

"Wait up. What are we going to do about those bodies we can't just leave them there. I mean what if..." Carth obviously didn't understand anything the young alien had just explained to her and was frantic.

"Don't worry. He said he's going to move them for us."

"Oh. Well uh..Ok." Carth catches up to her and holsters his blaster. "So what should we do now? We are still going to scout around, right?" Keira places her blades by her side and smiles. "Of course we are, but we need to check things out. We need supplies, and well med packs would pretty handy too." She glances down to his side and then continues her way down the hall. "Hey! I told you I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Keira stops in her tracks, brings her head back and laughs lightly. "Listen here flyboy. It's not you I'm worried about, no offense." Carth shakes his head. "None taken." She takes a few steps closer to him and pokes his side lightly, he winces and contracts. "I need to know that you will be able to hold your blasters up in a fight. You need my help and I need yours. We both want off this rock. Now we aren't going to get anywhere if we end up dead. We'll take care of each other. But you have to let me help you too. Deal?" Carth nods and holds his side. "Deal. Just don't do that again."

Moments later down the hall, Keira is on her knees trying to slice open a door to an apartment. Carth, not agreeing with what she's doing stands by watching over her shoulder. "Don't you think this is wrong. I mean can't we..." Keira sighs and rolls her eyes as she continues to block out his chatter and concentrates on opening the lock. "Got it!" The doors open and they walk inside the apartment. "Hey what are you doing here?! You can't just break into peoples apartments you know!" A woman runs at them, signaling with her hands for them to back out. "Calm down. We're just investigating the area." The woman cocks her head to side looking at Keira furiously. "Are you serious? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Keira lowers her head. She doesn't know why, but for some reason now, she feels guilty. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break in. I didn't think anyone lived here." The woman looking a little less furious, slumps her shoulders and rubs the back of her neck. "Alright, apology accepted. You just scared me is all." Carth and Keira exchange glances. "What are you doing here anyways? I mean why are you hiding out in these apartments, aren't they for aliens?" The woman sighs and returns to where she had been sitting. "Well I have some issues with people around here. Mostly Daviks crew. So I figured it be best if I hid out here." Keira feeling the need to help this woman tries to get her to open up. "Well maybe if you tell me what's going on I can help." The woman laughs and wipes her eyes as if trying to calm herself. "That's real generous, but I don't even know who you are." Keira holds out her hand. "I'm Keira, and this tense looking fellow here, is Carth." He gives the woman a quick two finger salute. The woman stands and shakes Keira's hand. "I'm Dia. I guess it couldn't hurt if I told you what's going on..."

The woman spends a good half hour explaining to Keira and Carth her current situation. How she has a bounty on her head and how it's totally uncalled for. She explains that she doesn't have enough credits to pay of the bounty so that's why she resolved to hiding. Squeezing the woman's shoulders lightly, Keira promises that as soon as she has some credits, she would find the men involved and get the bounty removed. "You really shouldn't go through the trouble. Be careful."

The two companions make their way towards the upper city elevator just after meeting up with a local Twi'lek merchant. Keira had enough credits on her to buy a few med packs. After exiting the elevator, Keira pulls Carth into a near by ally. "Now stay still and lift up your shirt." Carth raises his brow playfully at her and does as she commands. "You know I don't usually dress down for a girl I just met." She takes out a med pack and injects the kolto near his wound. Carth holds his breath and then begins to relax as the medicine makes it way through his veins. "You know, you're not very gentle with that." He tucks his shirt in is pants and adjusts his jacket. "I wasn't trying to be."

"Now where should we start?" She glances from side to side, looking for anything obvious to pop out at her. "Want to try the cantina?" They walk in the direction of the cantina, cautious of the Sith soldiers as they go.

Catching glances of Carth's face from the corner of her eye, it dawns on her that she hadn't noticed how atractive he is, until now. His dark eyes and unmanageable hair give off the impression of a man with a kind heart. His facial hair, scruffy along the jaw line and grown in around his mouth, give him a well balanced rugged look. He's fit and lean, unquestionably from the years in the military. Still, he doesn't have that macho arrogance that most men did and she finds that appealing. She can tell that he's well into his thirties, but his bright eyes and high shoulders made him look younger. Finding herself wanting to explore him more with her eyes, she shakes her head bringing her senses back.

_Stop that, what if he sees you looking at him? Dirty girl! _She blushes lightly.

"Can I ask you something?" She asks innocently, continuing to walk by his side. "I'm all ears beautiful." He gives her a wink and smiles warmly. "Hey, I like the sound of that?" He laughs, rubbing the back of his head. "What the 'I'm all ears' part or the 'beautiful' part?"

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decides to play along. "Carth, are you flirting with me?" He shrugs his shoulders. "Not really. Just a habit. You got something else you rather I call you?" Keira thinks for a moment. " How about gorgeous. I like the way that sounds better." Carth smirks and decides he likes her sense of humor. " Hmm...I might consider it. What you going to call me, in exchange?" Thinking for another moment Keira laughs. " How about handsome thug?" "I like the first part of that. I'm a bit more partial to 'the most handsome pilot in the galaxy'. What do you think?" Carth continues to stare her way, looking her up and down rubbing his chin. Not being able to handle the way he's looking at her, she nearly keels over laughing. "Hahaha, I'll think about it." Carth straightens his back and take a few steps towards her. "Well I guess 'gorgeous' will just have to do for now then, won't it?"

They continue their walk towards the cantina, Keira still laughing from the look he was giving her. "Kidding aside, I bet your not about to give up on those questions of yours, are you? Are they really necessary?" He glances at her quickly from the corner of his eyes. "I just want to get to know you better. Seeing that we might be stuck with each other for a bit." Carth rolls his eyes and sighs lightly. "Well, if it's an interrogation you wanted, why didn't you just say so?" Keira grabs hold of his arm and forces him to look at her. "Oh come on. I never said that."

"It's ok. I was just joking. You just seem very curious. Although, I have to admit. It's kind of refreshing. Let me ask you something first. I've been going through the battle aboard the Endar Spire over and over in my head since we crashed. Some things just don't add up fo me. Maybe you could tell me what happened...from your perspective." Finding this a bit odd, Keira decides to answer. "I wasn't in a position to see what was going on to be honest."

Carth rubs his chin as if in deep thought. "Neither was I, to tell the truth. I was onboard as an adviser for the most part. The battle began so fast, it's anyone's guess as to what exactly happened. We lost the ship and a lot of good people...and for what? On the hope that Jedi powers would save us, somehow. Not that Bastilla had much of an opportunity to act. We didn't choose that battle, anyway, it got forced on us. Hell, I'm just surprised that any of us are alive to talk about it."

They continue to walk a bit while Carth continues his point. " Come to think of it, it's more that a little surprising that you happen to be here, isn't it? Just what is your position with the Republic fleet, anyway?" He has a point, but she still finds his question a bit odd. "You read my data pad. I was on board as a second adviser." Carth raises his hands in surrender. "Yes. Still...it seems a bit strange that someone who was a last-minute addition to the crew roster is one of the survivors. It just seems a little convenient." Keira sends him an angry stare. "I'm probably wrong and this is probably nothing. I know, I learned a long time ago not to take things at face value, however. And I hate surprises."

Rolling her eyes Keira begins walking away from him. "What do you mean by surprises?" "I mean...I have to expect the unexpected. Just to be safe." Keira quickens her pace, wanting to get to the cantina sooner. "Are you always this suspicious?" Catching up to her, Carth begins to explain himself. "Look, it has nothing to do with you...personally. I don't trust anyone and I have my reasons."

They continue walking, not saying another word till they reach the cantina.


	5. Chapter 5 : Who Needs Credits!

_This is the updated version of this Chapter. It has been Beta Read. Hope you enjoy it :D_

_Disclaimer : I still don't own any of the Star Wars gals or guys_

**Chapter 5 : Who needs Credits?!**

Keira and Carth, still not saying anything to one another after their awkward conversation, press on to the cantina. They both find it difficult not to make eye contact with the Sith guard standing in front of the entrance. The doors open and the pair enter.

The entrance room is muggy and dim. The only smell that Keira can distinguish from the rest is of alcohol. The air is hot and almost makes her want to get a drink herself. She can feel the thumping of the music from the live band pounding under her feet. Already, she knows this night is going to be interesting.

Keira gives a quick nod to Carth who seems to understand her meaning. He heads in the opposite direction, straight to the bar. Somehow she manages to meet up with a few different characters. A woman who says she doesn't want to talk, but somehow manages to go on about how she's a Sith soldier and is just not in uniform and how much she hates being on Taris. Then she manages to find an old man who just wants to teach her how to play Pazaak and another woman who's obsessed with watching Pazaak players.

Walking away from her last encounter, she heads to the bar and orders a drink. She sips lightly at it and lets the feeling of the cool liquid make its way down her throat. "Much better," she mumbled. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had a drink of alcohol. Taking another sip, she smiles in delight as the liquid seems to cool her core. Relaxing her body and allowing her shoulders to slump, she leans more into the bar trying to make sense of everything that has just happened. It all seems so sudden, one thing after another. Waking up in a med bay, the Endar Spire, and now this search for the lost Jedi--it's all just too much.

Then as if trying to pry her from her thoughts, the sound of a man clearing his throat beside her brings her back to the present. "Sorry, didn't want to interrupt...but I was wondering if you got any information..." the man said. Keira straightens her back and turns to face Carth.

"No, not really. Other then the fact that the Sith soldiers like to come here on their down time." Carth raises a brow and begins surveying the cantina. "They don't come in their uniforms," she snorts. The bartender approaches, and Carth orders himself another drink. "Well, I had just about as much luck as you. Nothing worth while." They both stare at their drinks trying to figure out what their next step should be.

"How about we finish our drinks, then we check out that dueling arena. Bet there's a way to make some credits there," Carth said. Keira had to admit, this idea did appeal to her, so she agreed. Some time goes by as the two engage in conversation about blasters and vibroblades and the pros and cons that go along with them. The conversation ends, and they continue sipping at their drinks. Carth's mind seems miles away at the moment. Finding herself curious about this man she now has to put her trust in, Keira can't help but to pry once more.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Carth rolls his eyes as he places his drink onto the bar obviously annoyed. "I guess," he answers.

"Oh don't be like that. I just want to get to know you."

Surprised he decides to give in. "Me? I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years. I've seen more than my share of wars...I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started. But with all that, I've never experienced anything like the slaughter these Sith animals can unleash. Not even the Mandalorians were that senseless."

Carth takes another gulp of his drink and wipes the corner of his mouth with his palm. "My home world was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damn thing our Republic forces could do to stop them!"

Feeling his anxiety, Keira squeezes his shoulder lightly. "You're talking like it's your fault. Like you failed somehow."

He rubs a hand carelessly through his hair and stares into his now empty glass. "It shouldn't be my fault. I did everything I could...I followed my orders and did my duty. That shouldn't mean I failed them! I didn't!"

Confused Keira stares at this now apparent broken man before her. "Them? Do you mean the people of your home world?"

"Yes. No...no, that's not what I mean. I mean...I'm sorry. I'm not making much sense, am I?" He gives her an awkward smile. "You probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much…at all actually. I'm more used to taking action...keeping my mind focused on the business at hand. So let's just do that. If you have more questions, just ask them later." Deciding to leave this conversation for another time, Keira decides to finally head to the dueling area.

A match is well on its way as Keira and Carth enter. They manage to catch a few glances from a view screen. Apparently it wasn't that great of a match--just two lower rated duelists, Deadeye Duncan and some Gerlon Two-fingers character. The match is over just as quickly as it had begun with Gerlon leaving the victor.

Quickly, Keira learns that Marl will be the most challenging of all the duelists. From what she hears though, she will have to make her way up the ladder to him. Each duelist will earn her more credits. Concluding this to be the only reasonable way to earn credits at the moment, Keira decides to enroll herself.

"Ok, I know you're really good with those blades of yours, but I have to admit something," Carth said. "I feel weird about this. I mean...shouldn't it be me going in there?" Trying to hold back her laugh Keira pats Carth on the back.

"That's sweet, but I can handle this."

Searching the room she spots her target--a Hutt, the one who holds the bets and the one who signs up the new duelists. She approaches him, but he doesn't seem too pleased to see her.

_"I'm sorry, human. The betting window's closed. No more fights right now. People are sick of seeing the same duelists all the time. It's bad for business. Unless..."_ He seems to give this current moment some thought and then continues. _"My name is Ajuur. I organize all the duels here. We need a new face in the dueling game, human. Maybe you want to step into the duel ring? It can be a highly profitable venture."_

"I might be interested. What's in it for me?"

_"I can arrange for you to fight in the duel ring. If you win, you get the standard contract, ten percent of all wagers. And don't worry; nobody dies in the duel ring anymore. Death matches are illegal now. Most fighters in the duel ring use vibroblades or stun sticks because the ring's pretty small, but a few of the duelists use blasters. Use whichever you prefer."_

Unconvinced, Carth still doesn't seem to think this a good idea. "Vibroblades and blasters? And nobody ever dies? How come I get the feeling you're trying to take us for a ride?"

Annoyed, the Hutt tries to explain. _"The duel ring has energy suppressor fields to make sure nobody dies. Weapons are limited so they hurt...but don't kill. And we've got a medic droid in case of serious injuries. So are you interested?"_

Keira thinks a minute. "Ok. I'll do it."

Now seemingly pleased with her presence, Ajuur decides she needs some sort of identity. _"Good, new blood for the ring! But you need a nickname, like Ice or Deadeye or Twitch. Good nicknames make people bet more. Hmmm...what's a good nickname for you?"_The Hutt ponders this for a moment._ "You're an off-worldler. You're new here, people won't recognize you...I know! From now on in the duel ring you will be the Mysterious Stranger!"_

"The Mysterious Stranger. I like it."

_"The Mysterious Stranger is a perfect name for you. You've got no past, no history...it makes you seem like you got some big, dark secret. People like that. Makes them bet more."_ The Hutt laughs as Keira makes her way past him and towards the ring.

"Using this name, it's for the best. The Sith might have come across a crew manifest back on the Endar Spire," said Carth rubbing the back of his head and starring at the doors leading to the ring. "Are you sure about this? You know we can still switch places..."

Keira laughs and hands him some credits. "I'll be fine. I need you to go buy some extra medpacs. Get yourself another drink if it helps you calm down." She unsheathes her vibroblades and heads for the doors.

Excited, Ajuur starts scheduling a fight for her. _"You ready for a duel now? You want to step into the ring right away? I'll set you up with Deadeye Duncan to start. Yes! You fight and people bet and I make money! It's all good. Oh only one rule, nobody dies. Your opponent goes down, you don't finish them off. Death matches are illegal now."_

"Understood."

The doors open and Keira enters. The announcer starts off by introducing both fighters. Keira can't get over the excitement she feels as the crowd goes wild at the sound of her name. The adrenaline from the fans pours over her like rain; she bathes in it and allows it to give her strength. "This is going to be fun." A playful smile washes over her face as she sizes up her opponent.

Deadeye manages to get a few shots off before she's on him. Keira's able to miss the blaster shots, mostly due to his horrible aim. Her instincts taking over, she lashes out with her right foot and lands a hefty blow to his jaw. Surprisingly enough, he doesn't go down. Not wanting to inflict too much pain on poor Duncan but still put on a good show, Keira hits him in a few none lethal spots with her blades and he goes down.

The crowd goes wild. The announcer declares her the winner, but doesn't seem to be surprised. However it seems the fans enjoy having this "Mysterious Stranger" around.

Keira heads back to Ajuur to schedule another fight. Seeing as she didn't even break a sweat in the last duel, she decides to press her luck with one more. Quickly she scans the room, but finds no traces of Carth. She could only imagine the lecture she would get about dueling a second time.

Again she finds herself in the ring, this time against Two-Fingers. This opponent seems a bit faster. Gerlon's able to get a few shots that graze by her. Not having the advantage she did in the last fight, she makes her way to him cautiously. Two-fingers still firing away at her, she raises her blades and manages to block two of the three shots fired at her. She crouches down on one knee in pain. A sensation of fire coursing through her thigh is all that she needs to remind herself of that mistake.

As if realizing what is to come, Gerlon's face pails as his opponent attacks him. He pulls out his own vibroblade, but is still no match for her skills in this area. Within moments he's on the floor limp. The crowd once more goes wild, and the announcer once more declares her the victor of the match.

"Gerlon loosing to a rookie, is this a sign that his injuries have finally caught up with him? Or is this Mysterious Stranger for real? Only time will tell!"

Keira walks through the doors and heads to the Hutt to collect her wages once more. He applauds her on her victories and hands her the credits. Again she surveys the room and still finds no sign of Carth. Deciding to take this as a moment of opportunity she signs up for another duel. This time she's to battle someone by the name of Ice.

Her opponent stands before her, a tall blond woman with a cold presence. Keira assumes that's where she got the nickname. The announcements come to an end, and Keira bolts for her target. Seeing how this woman is higher up in the rankings, she thinks it's best to get this over with fast. She charges in full throttle and aims for Ice's upper body. The woman dodges her blow and lands a heavy strike of her own on Keira's back causing her to yelp in pain.

Deciding that this will take more thought then planned, Keira slowly rounds her opponent to the left. This woman is good, but Keira knows that being this close to Ice gives her the advantage point. The woman makes the mistake of charging this time. Without hesitation Keira dodges to the right and strikes the woman in the face with her knee. She stumbles but turns violently and lands a few strikes with her vibroblade on Keira's back once more.

Both women, now bloody and bruised, circle each other patiently, waiting for the other to charge. Keira is the first to move; seeing a moment of weakness she bolts. Either from exhaustion or lack of experience, Ice allows her arms to drop a little, giving her enemy the leverage she needs. Keira springs from the ground landing her knee once more on its mark. This time she comes into contact with a not so protected jaw. Knocked out, Ice's body falls to the ground.

With shock in his voice, the announcer once again declares the "Mysterious Stranger" to be the winner.

Keira limps out from the dueling ring. "Ok. I think three was good enough for tonight. Damn I'm sore." Her muscles ache and throb. The thought of the refresher is now the only thing on her mind. She hits the button on the door and walks back towards the Hutt. He hands her the credits he owes her and comments on her skill. She smiles and limps her way towards the bar.

"There you are! You know I've been looking everywhere for you! Damn it woman where were you?" Carth rushes over to her side. "Hey, are you ok? Don't tell me you did more than one fight?" He ushers her to sit.

"Three actually. I did three."

Amazed to actually see her still walking, he hands her a medpak. "Here, I went and bought a few of these like you asked. I also stopped at that equipment store. I got us some armor and some weapon upgrades."

She winces as the syringe pierces her skin, and the kolto makes its way through her veins. Carth helps her to her feat. Holding her by the waist, he leads her back to the apartment.


	6. Chapter 6 : Partying with the Sith

_Woot Woot! A nice long chapter. I changed a few things from in the game. I'm sure you will find them. But it was fun. I love messing with the plot of things. Alright! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer :I do not own the KOTOR Characters...**

**Chapter 6 : Partying with the Sith**

"You know, this is getting old." Carth smirks down at Keira as he helps her walk from the elevator to the apartment. "What?" Keira attempts an act of innocence. They both laugh as they continue towards their base.

Carth opens the doors to the apartment and glances quickly around. No signs of any break ins. Gently he helps Keira onto her bed. He hands her a rations pack and heads for the refresher. Even though he hasn't been the one fighting today, his body sure was sore. Could have a lot to do with his wound healing, or dragging that woman around all the time. Either way, he's thankful for the comfort of the warm water now flowing over him.

His thoughts drifting now to Keira. Something is definitely odd with her. The data pad he found in her pack just didn't add up. The Republic and the Council would have never let someone on board with so little known about them. So it was obvious there were things about her they didn't want other people to know. What he doesn't understand, is that being someone who is suppose to be helping out on this mission, why wasn't he privileged to that knowledge. Whatever it is, he is determined to find out somehow. The other thing that has his mind wondering, plain and simple is 'her'.

He can't understand it. In some ways she irritated him, but in a good way. Odd. He kind of enjoys the fact that she's interested in him. He doesn't really enjoy talking about past issues, but somehow she manages to get him to tell her. Somehow, he feels a sense of relief, telling someone things that were never before spoken. How did she manage to wiggle that out of him?

Then there is her obvious beauty. Just because he has a good ten years on her, doesn't mean he can't notice these things. Her black hair that she preferred tied back. He can still remember how soft it felt along his fingers as he tended to her injury. Her fair skin and deep blue eyes that made him feel lost when he looked into them. Her seemingly frail body that masked an incredible amount of power and skill, that amazed even him.

As if on cue to wake him from his day dream Carth hears her checking on him. "You alive in there?"

"Uhh...me? Yeah. I'm fine." He hears her shift a bit and then begin to leave. "Well, just thought I would check on you. You've been in there a while...Errr...sorry if I was interrupting anything." She giggles and returns to the main area.

"Great. Now she thinks you're a perverted old man." Carth pats himself dry and gets back in his pants and boots. Studying his now almost fully healed wound, he decides it's time to remove the stitches. He heads back to the main area and searches for something the cut the stitching with.

"Looking for something?" Keira watches him as he goes around the apartment talking to himself. "Actually, have you seen a small blade or anything like that around?" She lifts a brow in his direction. "Why? Suicidal are we?"

"Who? Me?" He snorts. "No...no. I just need to remove these stitches." Carth looks down at his side. "Oh well then. Let me take those out for you." Keira gestures for him to sit in a chair near the bed. "You know, you really should have taken these out a while ago. The kolto would still heal fine with out them." Gently, she begins removing the stitching with scissors and tweezers.

"Well I would have, but you were dragging me all over the place. Hey! Easy there, it's still kind of tender." Keira looks up at him mockingly. "Stop being such a baby." She finishes removing all the stitches with ease. "Ok. All done. Now I'm going to bed." Carth studies her work. Pleased he tosses his black shirt back on and heads for the other bed.

"We should head back to the cantina tomorrow. I want to see if there will be any new faces there." She muffles out from underneath her covers.

"Right." Carth studies the ceiling, as if uneasy with the idea. "Don't worry. I won't be dueling tomorrow."

The night is long. Keira groans and tosses violently in her sleep. Again, the same dream haunts her.

_A woman Jedi and her followers square off with a cloaked figure. Keira can sense the incredible amount of power residing in the dark figure. She knows that the Jedi don't stand a chance. Then she sense a terrible amount of panic. A wave of pain, anger, frustration and regret washes over her. The dream ends, then repeats itself, over and over._

Carth sits by her side, trying to calm her. Unsuccessful, he tries to wake her, rubbing the side of her arm. "Keira...wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up." He sighs deeply. Having had his fair share of nightmares, he can only image what tortures her to such extremes. He squeezes her jaw lightly between his fingers and thumb and rocks her head gently. "Come on Keira. You have to wake up."

Her eyes flash open. In shock, she scrambles to sit up. "I'm...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Carth looks over her with concern. "You were having a nightmare...and I...I didn't think I should keep letting you sleep like that." He attempts to recover her with the covers, but she recoils away from him. Seeing her confusion, he lifts his hands in surrender. "Hey, hey. It's ok. I'm not going to do hurt you. You're safe. Just a bad dream."

Keira's eyes survey the room, looking for threats or anything out of the ordinary. For a moment, she can't seem to recall where she is. Then her eyes land on a familiar face. Her body relaxes and her breathing begins to slow down. Taking a deep breath, she brushes the few strands of hair from her face with her hands.

"It felt so real...so real." Shivers run through her body as she recalls the dream. "I bet. To make you thrash about like that...I mean it must of been one hell of a nightmare." Carth continues sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting for her to call down.

Strangely enough, his presence seems to give her some sort of comfort. Almost alien to her this feeling is. Why? She was sure there must have been people in her life that had showed her this type of compassion before, but for some reason, she can't think of any. Not one person, not one moment.

In this particular moment, she becomes greatful, for his presence, his compasion and his sincerity.

"Are you ok?" As if trying to remind her of his presence he shifts a bit on the bed. "I'm...sigh...I'm fine. Thank you." He waits a moment, studying her body language, then comes to the conclusion that she will be fine and heads back to his bunk.

Keira wraps herself in her covers once more, eyeing the wall next to her, she goes over the events in her dream. None of it made any sense. She doesn't know any of the people in the dream or what is even going on. What confuses her the most however, is it all seems familiar, the fear, the power, the anguish.

Deciding that sleep is no longer her friend for the night, she resolves to counting the holes in the wall.

The hours to the rest of the night seem to crawl by. Keira's game of 'count the crap on the wall' got old fast. However, she soon comes to realize that she isn't the only one with trouble sleeping.

Carth tosses and turns in his sleep. She can hear his covers shift about as he stirs tirelessly. Keira decides to leave him be. Although he's not getting the best of sleep, at least he's getting some. Considering his past few days have been quite overwhelming, she thinks it best to let him sleep.

Morning. Carth rubs his still tired eyes and swings his legs over the edge of the bunk. He looks over at the next bed and sees that Keira is already up. "Must be in the refresher." He stretches his back and rubs the back of his neck. "Damn bed." He gears up and sits in a chair waiting for Keira to finish getting ready. Not noticing, he stares at her bunk, wondering how the rest of her night went.

"Morning." Keira makes her way to the main area, tying her hair back. Carth nods in her direction acknowledging her hello. "So we are heading to the cantina right?" Again, he just nods agreeing. "We'll get something to eat there. Anything has to be better then these ration packs."

She picks up her weapons and heads for the door. "You coming?" She stares at Carth who seems to be deep in thought, still sitting in his chair. Again, all she receives is a nod, he pulls himself out of the chair and heads out the door.

They make their way to the cantina and order up some grub. It's the best way that Keira can describe it. Grub, squishy, messy, protein and vitamin filled slop. Carth seems to finish his in record time, either he's really hungry, or just knows it's better to just get the eating part over with. Keira on the other hand, takes long mouth fulls, trying to swallow it fast. It's just not working as great for her, but she knows she has to eat.

She decides to take a break from her grub. "I want to discuss something with you." Carth puts down his mug of Caffa and raise his brow in her direction. "You do? Fair enough. What do you want to discuss?"

Keira takes a deep breath and pokes at her food. "We didn't finish our conversation last time." She continues poking her food. Carth sighs loudly and continues sipping at his Caffa. "I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from. Let me try to explain."

He clears his throat and shifts in his seat, trying to get comfortable. "You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met. You've saved my butt more than once and I'm lucky you're here to help me, no question." He stares at her, a little more seriously now. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you or being wary. I'm just not built that way. Period."

Keira stares back at him. "Not built that way? That sounds like an excuse." He waves her off and shakes his head. "Maybe so. But I've been betrayed before by people I..well, it won't happen again, that's all."

Amazed at this man's ignorance, her gaze remains focused on him. "So you want some kind of guarantee that I won't betray you?!" Carth doesn't get why she's taking this so personally, he assumes it must be a 'woman' thing. "I don't know that you'll betray me. But there are no guarantees...not for you, not for me. You don't have to take it personally."

Aggravated, she slams her spoon on the table and stands up briskly. "Don't tell me not to take it personally, you hairless Wookiee!" Seeing that he has hit the wrong nerve, Carth straightens up in his chair. "Hairless Wookiee? Alright, sister, just...just...just calm down before your head explodes."

Still annoyed with him, she walks to the other side of the table and pokes him hard in the chest. "We'll just see whose head explodes, you...you...you ungrateful monkey-lizard!" In turn, it's she who's hit a nerve. Carth decides he likes her feistiness and decides to play her game. "Is that your idea of an insult? Come on, sister, take your best shot."

Her anger calming, Keira gives in. "Drooling Bomarr cast-off!" Carth rolls his eyes at her and presses his palm to his chest. "Oh, ouch. I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one." He smirks her way.

Not impressed, Keira returns to her seat. "Well, you had it coming." Still laughing, Carth manages to take a few more sips from his mug. "I guess I did. Fell better now?" She shrugs her shoulders looking away from him, trying to hide her smile. "Maybe a little."

"Good. Then maybe we can talk reasonably about this." Carth runs an uneasy hand through his hair. "All I've been trying to say is that this isn't personal. If you were smart, you wouldn't trust anyone, either...not me, not Bastila and especially not yourself."

Keira ignores his gaze, and resumes eating her food. "I wouldn't want to live like that."

"Not all of us have the luxury of a choice. I'm conditioned this way, sorry."

Wether it's the way he said that last sentence, or the fact that he just seems so alone, Keira begins to feel some sort of empathy for the man and tries to make amends. "You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Her attempt goes in vain. "No, I don't want to talk about it. What I want is to save the galaxy...if that's even possible. Why is whether or not I trust you or anyone so damned important to you? Why...why do you even care?"

Silence.

"We don't have time for this, so can we please just...drop it. For now? Can we pick it up later if you really must, I...want to get underway."

After finishing her meal, with out a word, she decides to scout the cantina on her own once more. Carth heads in the opposite direction. She makes her way towards the entertainment room, the band is already in full swing. Keira notices a man staring at her, so slowly she makes her way to him.

"Well, hello there! I see from your exotic appearance that you are not from Taris originally. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jergan." Something about this man strikes her as odd. "Pleased to meet you. My name's Keira." He crosses his arm and rests his gaze on the band. "What do you think of our local music? The band is quite good, wouldn't you agree? They're on the verge of intergalactic stardom, you know."

Keira shifts her eyes from the man to the band. "It's different, but I like it." Jergan's eyes widen and his gaze amediately falls back onto Keira. "Would you like to meet the band after the show? Maybe have a brief brush with fame before they become intergalactic superstars? I can arrange it, you know."

Now she can smell it. Bantha poo doo is in the air. "How will you arrange that?" She rises a brow in his direction. "I have a standing arrangement with one of the Rodian bodyguards backstage. For the small sum of twenty credits he'll let me set up a meeting with you and the band." Now she's heard everything. "Sounds like you're running a scam to me."

Shocked the man presses his lips in a fine line. "You sting me with your words! I merely thought I could offer you the rare opportunity to meet a celebrity before they were famous. But I see you're not interested." He shakes his head in disappointment. "That's too bad. They really are charming fellow. Very well, then. I hope you enjoy the music. If you change your mind come speak with me again."

Keira rolls her eyes. "Wow, they really are everywhere." Just as she's about to give up and leave, she catches a depressed looking fellow sitting in a corner all alone. She makes eye contact with him and makes her way to his table.

He pulls a chair out for her and signals her to take a seat. "Hi there. I haven't seen you around before. Of course they don't give us Sith officers from the military base much time off..." She can feel his eyes all over her. "You're from the military base? You don't look like one of the Sith."

"I'm off duty right now, so I'm not in uniform. My name is Yun Genda, junior officer first class with the Sith occupation force." She hopes she's sounding as interested in him as he wants her to be. "Nice to meet you, Yun. I'm Keira." She holds out her hand and he shakes it lightly. Her charisma pays off.

He eyes her some more before sipping at his drink. "I'm actually a little surprised you're talking to me at all...most of the people here on Taris can't stand us Sith. It can make this a pretty lonely job." Not surprised at his statement, she continues to gain his trust. "I'm not actually from Taris. I'm just stuck here until the quarantine ends."

She seems to gain his interest more. He waves down a waitress and orders them a round of drinks. "You're an off-worlder? Huh, I figured you'd be even more angry, being stuck on a foreign planet and all."

"Being stuck on Taris isn't so bad..but the locals aren't much fun." She watches as Yun sips at his new drink. "You know, it's like everyone on this backwater planet is in a permanent bad mood. Don't they know they have to make the best of things?"

"You've got a pretty positive attitude." He raises his glass to her. "Exactly! It's all about attitude. I didn't ask to be assigned to this backwater planet, but I try to make the best of it!" Again, he waves over the waitress and orders another round of drinks. "It's pretty easy to get depressed on an assignment like this, but we do what we can to keep our spirits up."

Keira can't believe this guy. She's practically just listening to him, hardly saying a word. "You need to blow off steam once in a while." He nods agreeing. "That's true." He stares at her up and down. "It's nice to meet someone who understands what I'm going through. It's good to talk about this stuff, it gets pretty lonely up at the military base." He rests a hand on her thigh, and she piratically holds her vomit down.

"I...I have to get going soon. I've got a shift at the military base. But some of us junior Sith officers are having a party tonight to blow off some steam." He squeezes her thigh gently. "I'd really like to see you again. Why don't you drop by the party?" Just trying to avoid his gaze she gives him an answer that she's sure with satisfy him. "Sounds good. I'll be there."

"Don't be late. We're starting right after our shifts end. Most of us won't even be going back to the base to lock up our uniforms. I look forward to seeing you there." He gives her leg one final squeeze, shuffles out of his chair and heads out.

Not locking up their uniforms. Keira decides that she just might make an appearance after all.

Carth watches Yun leave the table. The young man passes right by him and notices Carth staring at him. Yun gives him a quick two finger salute as he walks by, which Carth doesn't acknowledge.

He's only known Keira a few days and he knows she was only prying information from that creep. So why did he feel all weird inside? Like that guy had over stepped his boundaries or something. Why did he feel the need to stare him down the way he did? He had this sudden urge to just follow the guy and give him a good strangling. Carth concludes it's because of the way Yun was grabbing her thigh. That wasn't a polite thing to do to a woman. "Yeah that's it..."

Keira finishes the two drinks her new friend bought her while watching the band. She really can't get over how talented those Twi'lek dancers are. Then as if on cue, she hears a man clearing his throat. "Having fun?"

"Excuse me?" She turns her head to see Carth standing behind her. "How long have you been there?" Carth's smile widens. "Oh long enough to see you get all cosy with that drunk." Keira returns her attention to the band. "Shut up. It was the only way I could get information."

Carth brings his head back and laughs. "Oh yeah. Like what kind of information? What type of women he's into?" Carth continues laughing and makes his way into Yun's now abandoned chair. Keira gives him a hard stare. "First of all, he's a Sith junior officer." Carth's laughter quickens. "Great, now you're flirting with the enemy." Keira ignores him. "Second he invited me to a party."

"A party? Do we really have time..." Keira pulls out her chair and stands. "Yes we do. He told me that they don't even bother to go back to the base and lock up their uniforms." Carth stops laughing and looks up at her. "Well then. I guess we better show up. What time's the party at?"


	7. Chapter 7 : A Step Too Far

_Don't know why, but this chap is super fluffy and maybe a bit angst. Was just in the mood to write it this way I guess. Anyways, it's a decent sized chapter and I hope you enjoy it either way._

**Disclaimer : Yeah Yeah, I don't own anything :P**

**Chapter 7 : A Step Too Far**

"Now what time did you say this..." Carth can't even finish his sentence before Keira is answering him. "Later. We have enough time to scout a little more, eat and clean up." Confused, Carth follows her out of the cantina.

"Clean up?" Not bothering to slow her stride towards the other side of town, Keira answers him over her shoulder. "Yeah. You know, shower and change clothing." He can almost feel her eyes roll. "Change clothing? What do you plan on wearing?"

Keira's feet stop and she turns sharply to look at him. "Me? No...no,no. You got this all wrong." She lightly traces the edges of Carth's jacket with her finger. "You see, this is just the type of thing that will get us noticed. Don't you think you should be wearing something that doesn't scream 'hey I'm a Republic Soldier' ?" Keira giggles and then continues walking towards the other side of town.

"I...uh...I guess it wouldn't hurt to change then."

A few hours later and the pair are back at the apartment. Good thing they are going to this 'Sith Party', Carth admits. Just after they had found information that another escape pod landed in the under-city, they find out that they can't go into the under-city without proper passes or uniforms.

Sitting at the edge of his bunk, Carth studies his newly purchased items. A pair of regular black slacks and a black jacket with grey trim. He chuckles to himself, this will be the first time in a long time that he goes somewhere without his famous jacket. Carth folds his beloved rusted friend neatly and places it at the end of his bed. Sure it never really helped to protect him in a battle, but it still held some sentimental value.

Not knowing fully why he had to be 'clean' to go to a Sith gathering, Carth picks up his new clothing and heads for the refresher.

After basically inhailing her meal, Keira begins to check out her new items. She didn't buy much, a white sleeveless shirt and a new brown pack. She really needs a new bag, her old one is a bit ragged from her crash landing.

Keira studies the time and realizes that they have a good hour and a half to kill. Suddenly, she finds herself excited and worried at the same time. Excited at the fact that she will be doing something other then fighting with her new roommate or scouting. Worried at the fact that this 'party' might turn out to be a complete waste of time.

The fresher door opens and Carth emerges clean and dressed. Keira can tell that he feels awkward in his new jacket. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't hold a grudge against you." She makes her way past him to the fresher. Keira showers, fixes her hair in a semi-up-due and gets dressed in record time.

"OK. All set?" Carth seems to be staring at her, or something behind her. Keira looks over her shoulder to see what has caught his interest. "What?" Carth shakes his head. "Huh? Oh, nothing. Lets...lets just get going."

Keira shrugs her shoulders and holsters a blaster inside her black vest. "OK, now I'm ready."

The Sith officers must be in the mood to party. As soon as Keira and Carth step out of the elevator they can feel the music under their feet, like a small earth quake. They pass by other obvious party members on their way to the designated apartment. Some are to intoxicated or to busy locking lips up against a wall to even notice people walk by, while others or slowly making their way back with more alcohol.

Arriving at the apartment, Keira and Carth push their way through the crowded door and make it to what seems to be the main area of the party. The air here is hot and sticky. Smoke travels just above their heads, Keira assumes it's another pass time these officers enjoy. The music is intense, Keira can see that most people here are talking at the top of their lungs to be able to hear one another. She glances over at Carth and he gives her a nod. They go their separate ways, each hoping to find some information or better.

She spots someone handing out some juma juice and helps herself. After all, a drink might help her calm down. Carefully, she scans her surroundings. No sign of Yun. Not that she's disappointed, but she does need him for whatever information she can get. She judges however, from the looks that she was getting from some of the male officers and even some of the female, that she wouldn't have that hard of a time finding what she needed. Then she notices something odd, so she steps on the tips of her toes trying to look over the crowd.

"Hmmm...Odd." She can't seem to spot Carth anywhere. Her stomach starts to do weird things. She knows that he's probably just out of sight, but what if he's in trouble. "Nah. He's fine." There's that nagging feeling again. "What's my problem." She knows he's fine, he's out of the Republic get up and he seems to be in an alright mood. So what is she worried about. "I need another drink."

She grabs herself another drink of juma when she hears a familiar voice. "Hey you made it!" She nearly spits out her drink. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show." Yun staggers slowly towards her and wraps an arm around her shoulders. Keira takes a deep breath and displays her winning smile. "Of course. I've been here for a little while now." Yun tugs on her shoulders lightly and takes a swig of his ale. " You have to try this Tarisian ale, it's fantastic!" Loosing his balance slightly he holds the bottle out to her. "We should have conquered this planet ages ago!"

Keira's just about to protest, when one of his female comrades interrupt. "Careful Yun. That wines got quite the kick. A few more bottles of those and we'll all be passed out on the floor." Yun raises his brow to his friend. "Who cares. We're off duty tomorrow. Let's live a little! Come on, drink up." This time, to Keira's relief, he hands the bottle over to his friend. "By the way, this charming woman here is Sarina."

"I'm Keira, please to meet you." She holds her hand out to the woman, who doesn't acknowledge her. "Well. I'm going to go get more ale...Yun. This ones all dried out." Sarina clumsily walks away.

Now Keira finds herself in an uncomfortable situation. She's alone with Yun. To make matters worse, they are in a darkened corner that he apparently seems to be favouring. Thankfully, he's positioned in front of her talking about Force knows what. She manages to steal glances over his shoulder towards the doorway and surrounding areas. Some of the officers have fallen asleep here and there.

_Only a matter of time, just need to be patient._ She reminds to herself.

"You...you look great." Yun gives her a quick up and down glance. "Oh...Uh thanks." Feeling this man's growing attraction to her, she becomes nervous and for some reason she can't explain, somewhat scared. Quickly, she thinks of a clever way to solve her problem. "Want to dance?" Yun studies her face. "Nope. I mean... I would rather just stay here with you." He inches closer to her body. "Well...I could really use a drink then, how about you?"

Keira starts to move past him, but he reacts and puts his hand firmly against the wall beside her, blocking her path. He brings his face to hers and breathes heavily. She can smell booze on his breath and sense lust in his stance. "Where you going so fast?" He says cheerfully and wraps his free arm around her tiny waist pulling her towards him.

Keira can feel heat rise to cheeks. Embarrassed, ashamed and scared. Why can't she seem to control her limbs? She knows she can take him. Hell she's taken men twice his size. But for some reason she just doesn't move. "Come on now, I thought we were having a good time." Keira stares at the floor trying to avoid his gaze. "We are...I mean...I am..."

"Great! Cause I like you...I'm really happy you showed up."Yun sighs and brings his face close to her neck. She can hear him take in a deep breath. "You smell really good..." Still frozen, Keira still doesn't know what to do. Why isn't her training, reflexes or smarts kicking in? She can feel him kiss her neck lightly now and her shoulders go stiff. "It's ok...relax..." He holds her closer and tighter now. Keira's eyes widen. She can't believe what she's letting this low life do.

The party seems to be dying down. Amazingly however, the music remains full blast. Most of the officers just outside of the apartment have either fallen asleep or gone home. Carth has been out here for a good hour, the smoke and hot humid air inside had driven him out.

Carth sighs wondering where Keira could be.

Earlier that evening, he had attracted the attention of some of the female officers. Hoping to gather some info on his own, he worked his charm on them. The last one he had talked to was a woman by the name of Sarina. She had passed out long ago chugging away on her Tarisian ale. Apparently, she had gone in search for her friend but couldn't find him.

"Great...just great. No info and no Keira..." He's really beginning to worry. What could be keeping her? Deciding to let curiosity get the better of him, Carth makes his way back into the apartment. The music pounds in his ears. Sure he's had a few drinks, but still he wonders if the music really needs to be this loud. Carefully, he makes his way over the sleeping bodies and empty booze crates. Then he spots her, or at least he thinks it's her.

He can just barely make out two silhouettes in a darkened area. Squinting his eyes, he's able to get a few details that tells him he's right. "OK, old man. Just turn around." Carth justifies that by the way the two in the corner seem so close that's her reason for taking so long.

Just as he's ready to retreat to his spot outside, he changes his mind. "Somethings off." Briskly he turns back and quickly makes his way towards the couple.

Keira can feel herself shutter. Her insides feel like they want to twist around each other. Yun pulls her closer again so that his chest is pressed firmly against her own. She can feel his breaths quicken and her hands instinctively form fists of fear against her shoulders. Yun doesn't seem to notice, or doesn't care and continues kissing her neck, making his way to her jaw line. Keira firmly squeezes her eyes shut and hopes this will end quickly.

Then as if someone has heard her prayers, it all stops. She opens her eyes to see Yun's face hit hard against the wall beside her. Instantly, he's out cold. His body lies still at her feet and she stares at him in shock, her fists still set firmly at her shoulders, her body still trembling.

"Hey! I was..." Carth notices that the knuckles of her hands are white, and that she seems to be shivering, despite the high temperature in the room. Suddenly, he understands. "Keira...you ok? Did...he..." She doesn't say anything and continues staring at Yun's still body. "Hey, if he so much as...I swear I'll put a blaster to his head right now!"

A lady with an incredible amount of fighting skills or not, Carth was raised with the belief that women were to be respected, even if they were incredibly infuriating.

Clearly terrified over the events that just occurred, Carth holds out a hand to her, not wanting to make any sudden movements that would frighten her. "Come on, let's get you out of here." Keira lifts her head and lets her gaze meet his. "It's ok..." Carth adjusts his hand a little higher and she accepts the gesture. He helps her step over Yun's body and walks her to the door way.

"Ok. Stay here. I'm going to go see if I can find any papers or anything like that in here." Keira nods approvingly and rests her head against the door frame. Deciding that she will be alright if he leaves her for a moment, Carth decides it's best to do a quick scan of the Siths belongings.

Just as he turns to head back in, Keira gives his hand a quick squeeze. He turns and looks at her stunned. "I...I just wanted to say thanks. I mean...I don't know why I didn't do anything..." Keira stares at the ground once more, ashamed. "I...he just...and then it all happened so quick...I...I didn't know what to do and I don't know why..." He feels bad for her, he just doesn't know what to tell her. Truth is, he too doesn't understand why she didn't do anything, but at the same time he does.

Carth lays a hand gently on her shoulder and smiles at her warmly. "Hey...it's alright. It was just a situation you never really encountered before. Nothing to be ashamed of." His words don't seem to affect her.

Keira brings her gaze to the hallway. Carth sighs deeply and turns her head to face him with a gentle hand. "You didn't do anything wrong. He's just...well he's just a drunk, horny, Sith prick." Keira nods and brings her eyes to focus on the hallway again.

It doesn't take long for Carth to find what he needs, a Sith uniform. He places it into an empty bag and they leave.

The pair reach their 'base', Carth tosses the pack onto a near by chair and slumps onto his bunk. He can smell the smoke and booze from the party all over his clothing. "Great, now I smell like the enemy." He removes his jacket and adds that to the growing pile on the near by chair. Rubbing his hands through his thick hair, he laughs at the thought of ever having to tell a fellow Republic Soldier that he attended a Sith Party.

Then he realizes how quiet it is. Carth lifts his head from his hands to see Keira still standing by the door, lost in thought. Apparently, tonight's events have bothered her far more then he had originally thought. Secretly, he wishes to never discover the details of what went on, because he would set out to kill that man. Although, he can't help but feel a bit guilty. If only he would have went looking for her earlier, maybe nothing would have happened.

Carth shakes his head, sighs and wills himself to stand up. Again, he holds his hand out to her. "It's ok beautiful. You're safe here." Hesitantly, she moves towards him and he notices something in her eyes, tears, fear, need. Now he's at a total lost for words. Not only has she accepted his hand, but now he finds himself consoling a whimpering woman by wrapping his arms around her. His brain starts to spit out remarks at his actions. _What are you doing? Only instincts. What else can I do?_

Slowly, Keira's sobs fade and she begins wiping the tears from her under her eyes. The side of her face still nuzzled against Carth's chest. The beating of his strong heart somehow brings her comfort. His chin resting near her forehead, his warm arms holding her close make her feel secure.

Funny. She thinks, how just a few moments earlier the same actions by another man almost made her puke. Now, here she stood with another man she barely knew and could hardly get along with.

Now another thought. Awkward. Keira can hear the pilots heart beat quicken. He's probably panicking, wondering what the hell he should do, what he should say. Embarassed, she pulls away. "I...uh...don't know what came over me...sorry." Carth heads for his bunk and grabs his preferred clothing. "Don't worry about it. You just needed some...uh...comfort...it's ok."

Carth makes his way towards the fresher excited to get the smell of Sith off of him. "Thanks...again." Keira stands in the main area, pointlessly fixing her hair. "Uh...yeah...no problem." He gives her an awkward smile. "Lets...lets just not tell anyone about this...Ok...beautiful." Keira nods and heads for her bunk.

Carth enters the fresher. Closing the door behind him, he begins hitting himself in the forehead with his palm. "Beautiful? Shouldn't have said that this time. You're loosing it Onasi...beautiful?"


	8. Chapter 8 :The Good,the Bad and the Ugly

_Total fun here. I used the title of one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movie for this. You'll see why. If you've never seen the movie before, it's reason should still be clear. Anyways, again I don't do all the side quests of the game, and once more I've change a lot of things, but that's why it's so fun. As usual I will try to fit in some game dialogue where I see fit. I try not to stray from the Characters original personality, but I write them the way I see they would react to things. Hope you enjoy. Plz don't forget to Review :D_

**Disclaimer : Boohoo! You know what goes here :(**

**Chapter 8 : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly**

Blue eyes watch him from a darkened room, as he silently and carefully walks from the fresher to his bunk. Thinking that she must be sleeping, Carth tip toes not so gracefully to his bunk. Keira's gaze continues to follow him. She manages to hold back a giggle when she catches his outline walk into a chair, mumbling curses under his breath. _Guess I could have told him that I'm awake. _She rolls the idea around in her brain for only a brief second before concluding that watching his attempt at stealth is too amusing.

A light heartened moment, just enough to bring a faint smile to her hidden face. No matter how much she welcomes peace as her friend this evening, she will not receive it. Her thoughts linger back to the prior events. _The party. Yun. Sith spit_. Blinking back tears, she resorts once more to her game of 'count the crap' on the walls.

The night creeps by and daylight becomes a welcomed visitor.

_The Good_

Still laying in bed, Carth stretches his tense sleepy muscles. He wipes the sleep from his eyes with firm palms and wills himself to sit. His blinks his eyes slow and hard, trying to adjust his sight to the light. Keira's bunk is empty, but to his delight, it seems that she has left him a still steaming cup of Caffa.

He sips at the mug of warm comfort while relaxing against the frame of the lone window. _Where the hell can she be. _He silently hopes that she has not gone on some insane quest for vengeance against Yun, or worse. _No...no...she wouldn't_. Quickly, Carth's eyes begin to search the apartment for signs of the _bag_.

"OK...you're loosing it Onasi. Where did you put it?" Frantically, he searches. "It was right here." He points to the now empty chair where he had placed said _bag_. Carth suddenly realises that he's talking and worse of all, arguing with himself.

Cushions from the small sofa like chairs go flying, foot lockers are now open their contents spilled carelessly across the floor. Again, he realizes something new. Not only is the _bag_ missing, but so is the clothing he had worn the previous night. _Why the hell would she want that_? Panicking, he rubs his hands wildly through his hair, then over his face, through his hair, then over his face, as if these actions will suddenly bring him the answers he's looking for.

Then it occurs to him. _The beds_. Quickly, he rushes over to the bunks and tosses their mattresses to the ground. _Nothing, blast it. _Carth's just about to release a moan of frustration when the apartment doors opens.

Keira waltz into the apartment balancing cartons of food in her hands and bags on her arms. She gives the room a quick scan and then her gaze lands on the now crazed pilot. His hair is in a complete mess, the strands in the front stick right out forward and upward, while the rest of his thick head of hair can't seem to agree on which angle to go in. His sleeping pants are well below his waist line exposing his well formed lower abdominal muscles. Without effort, she can clearly see that he prefers to wear boxer-briefs and that they are indeed black.

She raises a brow in his direction and smirks. "Did I miss something? Or did a small storm just happen to go through here?" Briskly he walks towards her with his hands in the air. "Where's the bag?!" Keira deposits her clutter onto the table. "The bag?" Carth shakes his head mockingly. "Yes. The bag!" Clueless, she shrugs her shoulders. "Sorry Carth. I don't know what you're talking about."

Now his tempure meter has just hit one hundred degrees, she can see it, very soon this man's head is going to explode. "Look, the only bag I touched or know of is mine and it's right here." Keira points to her side displaying her brown sack. "So I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen any other bag here."

Carth attempts to cool down by taking a seat on one of the non-cushioned sofa chairs. "Did you happen to touch or move anything around before I got up?" She seems to ponder his question for a moment tapping her finger on her jaw. "Yeah, you know what. I did. I put the stuff you had on this chair in the fresher. It smelled really..."

All Carth heard was 'fresher'. He jumps from his seat and heads to the fresher. Breathing a sigh of relief, he returns to the main area carrying the_ bag_. He opens it up and pulls out the Sith uniform displaying it against himself.

"Oh...ohhh...that bag." Keira chuckles. "I'm a little off today, I guess. I totally forgot about...about...the bag." Her smile fades and she stares at the silver and black uniform. "Uhh...don't worry...I was just worried we lost it. Didn't want to have to attend another...I mean find another way to get us past that guard." _Nice one, stupid Idiot._ He feels guilt pull on the strings of his heart.

Jolting her head up, she looks at her comrade with a failed warm smile. "You thought I went without you...didn't you?" Keira hands him a carton of warm food. "I...uh...well it's not to say that you can't take care of yourself. I just..." _Where are you going with this? _"Didn't know you cared flyboy." She says batting her eyes at him devilishly.

They finish their fresh meal in record time and Keira somehow convinces Carth to wear the Sith uniform. Walking to the under city elevator proves to be quite amusing. Citizens make way of the Sith formally known as Carth as the pair walk on by. Keira presses her lips to the inside of her mouth to restrain any comments or giggles.

"Be careful down there." Is the 'obvious' advice the guard offers. The doors to the creaking elevator open and the pair step in. The sunlight fades as they descend to this new place. _Creepy. _Keira shifts her wait uneasy, waiting for the elevator to suddenly jolt and rush towards the end of the shaft. Just as she begins to let her mind linger on what they might find waiting for them, the elevator creaks, slows and comes to a stop.

"Man, am I glad that's over with." She's the first to step out. "You and me both sister." Carth's face shows signs of relief as he begins removing the helmet and placing it in a sack. "Damn Sith. That thing smelt like blaster polish, B.O and puke." He wiggles his shoulders quickly in disgust as if trying to hold back his on vomit.

Carth finishes packing the suit into the bag and they begin their scouting. "Please don't make me wear that again."

_The Bad_

Rounding a corner they notice a tall, thick man standing over some gang member bodies. He kicks lightly at one aliens arm, as if trying to make sure he's dead and lets out a puff of cigar smoke into the air. He raises a brow with interest as he notices Keira. "Don't worry, I didn't kill them. Too bad though, I was really looking forward to cracking some heads." He breathes out more smoke.

The man moves closer to her, towering over her. He's amazed to see that she doesn't cower and move back. "Interesting..." Keira can hear Carth grit his teeth behind her. "Who might you be?" She notices this mans interest in her and becomes a bit annoyed. "Someone you don't want to know." He swirls his cigar in his mouth and then backs off. "Right...big, mean and scary...I get it." Letting her lip curl, she watches as the man backs slightly away from her. "Look, I don't have time for small talk. Davik has me on a special assignment." With that, he turns on his heal and walks in the opposite direction.

"Damn Mandalorian." Carth mumbles. The pair head back in the direction of their original intent.

_The Ugly_

With in a few moments they find their way to Javyar's Cantina. "Go away." Keira turns her head in the direction of the statement, figuring it was directed at her. Here she finds yet another _odd _character. A short man in the strangest clothing. The only thing that she can distinctively make out is the man's nose and jaw area, other then that he's covered head to toe. His lips remain in a sinister curl and the bit of skin that is showing, is tanned from too many days in the sun.

A group of rag tag alien gang members seem to be upset with this man. "_Hey! You not talk like that. We just want to say hi to big, bad bounty hunter Calo Nord!" _Just with looking at this Calo Nord's stance, Keira can tell he's a very experienced bounty hunter.

_"Nah! This can't be Calo Nord, he's suppose to be tough. This guy's nothing but a runt!" Wow, brave. _Keira admits. She eyes Calo and the aliens, sensing the doom to come.

"One." Calo's stance shifts a bit. "One? What that suppose to mean? You be funny, tough guy?" The rodian taunts.

The male green Twi'lek scratches his head with confusion. "You know who we are, Calo? We're members of the Black Vulkar gang!"

"Two." Calo's hands move to his pockets. Now the rodian is confused. "Me no understand. One? Tow? He trying to count how many of us against him?"

"Three." Calo tosses a grenade at the three gang members feet and it ignites. A bright blinding light, a few blaster shots and it's done. All three gang members lie on the floor lifeless.

Keira steps back and lets Nord pass her. "Smart." He says as he brushes on by.

"Well that was loads of fun." Carth comments, still rubbing his eyes from the flash. In moments, patrons from the bar are at the bodies, relieving them of anything they no longer need. Carth contorts his face in disgust as they walk by.

Keira orders two drinks and they head for a table in the entertainment room. They sit in silence for a moment, trying to gather their thoughts on what they should do next. Carth glances at their now empty glasses and Keira gives him a nod, he pushes back from the table and heads back to the bar.

Keira is just starting to enjoy the music when a strange man sits in the now empty chair next to her. "Hey baby. Holdan like what he sees." Rolling her eyes in complete disgust, Keira suddenly finds the Twi'lek dancers interesting. "You know, not many good looking human females come round here much these days." Holdan suddenly finds this an opportunity to relax and settle his feet on the table. Swirling a toothpick in his mouth, he hungrily takes in her sights. "You know baby. I work for Davik. I'm an important man round here." Keira sighs. _Worst pick up ever._ "I bet you are."

Then it hits her, this is the man with the bounty on Dia's head. _You owe me big time. _Keira thinks to herself, and begins bargaining with the poor excuse for a living being. After a rather heated discussion and two hundred credits, Holdan agrees to have the bounty removed.

"Hey baby, you know Holdan has more to offer. The ladies never complain." Complete disgusted now, Keira puts a firm hand on his chest and pushes him away from her face. "Oh yeah? Well what about Dia?" Holdan shakes his fist aggravated. "That Bitch had it coming...she...she tried to kill me!"

"Sounds to me, that she was just trying to defend herself." Carth replies huskily while grabbing Holdan by his collar and yanking him out of _his _chair. Holdan brushes himself off, opens his mouth to say something to the pilot but then angrily walks away. "What took you so long?" Keira looks over at him innocently. "Me? I was just talking to this teen Twi'lek and her big harry friend." Keira sips at her drink. "Harry?"

"Yeah...her best friend turns out to be a wookie. I was getting our drinks when I saw some gang members giving her a hard time. I was about to intervene, but then she calls out to her friend." Carth takes a gulp of his drink and relaxes in his chair. "I see him walk up beside her and decided that she wouldn't need my help."

"So what happened after that?" Both their attention land on the dancing Twi'leks, their slender bodies moving in perfection unison with the music. "Well...uh...I introduced myself. She told me her name's Mission and referred to her wookie as big Z. I was curious as to how they ended up together, she told me the story...that's what took so long. They left, then I came back here."

"Ahhh...I see." Keira places her second empty glass on the table, all the while staring at the dancers. "So, do you always get reactions like that?" A bit shocked, Keira looks at him confused. "Excuse me?"

A small smirk plays at the corners of the pilots lips. "I'm just trying to figure out how many more guys I'm going to have to rip off of you." Keira lets out a set of small giggles and snorts and pats her comrade on the shoulder. "You know flyboy, you can be alright sometimes." Carth gives her a quick wink, finishes his drink and they both continue watching the dancers.


	9. Chapter 9 :Down Under

**Chapter 9: Down Under**

After getting an eye full of the Twi'lek dancers and being harassed by the local idiots. The little scoundrel and the pilot decide that it's time to leave the cantina. They had already managed to waste most of the day chatting to total strangers, with no luck of learning any new information of the other escape pods or Bastila.

"This is just great. What a load of help that was. A complete waste of time." Carth shakes his head in disgust, keeping a steady paste beside Keira. "This is pointless. We should head back to the apartment and figure out a new plan of action." He continues rambling on about how frustrated he is with the situation, while Keira continues to ignore him.

Keira stops in front of a set of doors. "Listen, why don't we see if Gadon Thek can help us." The pilot lets confusion settle across his face. "Gadon Thek? Leader of the Hidden Beks? Are you mad?" Rolling her eyes Keira attempts to explain. "Well maybe he knows some information that might be helpful."

Clearly aggravated, Carth crosses his arms. Sarcasm becoming a habit. "Well, I'm sure he does. But even if he does know anything useful and even if he's willing to tell us anything, and not have us killed. Where are we suppose to find him? I mean it's not like he's just around the corner. I'm sure. . ." Noticing that Keira's no longer listening to him and walking on past the set of doors Carth jogs to catch up to her. "Hey. Where you going?"

Back at the cantina once more, Keira and Carth sit at a table relaxing, enjoying their ale for once. The band on stage is actually really good and the mood in the bar seems to be a bit more cheery. They indulge in the fact that no one seems to be interested in making their night miserable, yet.

"Wow. I'm amazed." Carth manages to stammer out between sips of ale. The little scoundrel stares at him amused. "At what? The fact that the band is good or the fact that no one is bothering us yet?" The pilot smirks and rests his empty glass on the table. "Neither. Actually, I'm amazed that we're still alive." Carth waves over a waitress to order more drinks. Keira rises her brow confused. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Why? Well let me think for a minute. Oh...well for starters, we walked into the Hidden Beks base uninvited and then we basically demanded that he hand us over information. . ." Keira tilts her head to the side shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, well I'm getting tired or running around looking for this Jedi."

Carth hands her a drink and begins sipping at his newly filled glass of ale. "Oh and don't forget how you basically called the man a freak because he's blind. . . after he agreed to help us out." The pair laugh and continue to drink.

_It's strange how things play out._Not only did they manage to walk right through the front doors of the Hidden Bek base unharmed, but they also got Gadon to agree to help them, for a price of coarse. All they have to do now, is retrieve a part for the Beks swoop bike from their rivals the Black Vulkars. Apparently, there is a race in a few days and Gadon needs the part for their bike.

The Hidden Beks, had seemed more then happy to help with their mission. Keira doesn't let this fact bother her and spends no time dwelling on it. Gadon had also instructed his crew to set up the extra room for the two travellers should they need it. Seeing how late it was, Keira accepted the room and decided to continue relaxing at the near by cantina. After all the stress they've been under lately, a few drinks and some chill time couldn't hurt.

_Maybe that's why no one is bothering them. Hanging out with the Beks must have that 'stay away from me' affect on people._

The music slowly dies down and so does the crowd. A few Bek members still lingerin the bar playing pazaakand drinking Tarisian Ale. Checking her Chrono, Keira decides it's best if they head out. "Come on Carth. We should head back to the Bek base." Using the table as leverage to stand, she summons what strength she has left to lift herself from her seat. Carth reaches a hand out to her, she clasps it and helps him up.

They manage to stagger back to the Bek base. Keira half carries, half drags Carth all the way to their reserved room. Upon entering the tiny room, they see that it only has one bed. Mortified, Carth smacks his forehead with his palm realizing that the gang must think they are a couple. The way he was defending her, just like Gadon's body guard was defending him, must have given off the wrong impression.

Carth leans his weight against the door frame, in an attempt to keep the room from spinning. "We. . . we should just go back to the apartment." Keira stares at the pilot and laughs. "Are you crazy? You could hardly make it here and the cantina is close enough to spit on." The pilot glares at her. "That's disgusting." He closes his eyes hard and then opens them slowly, trying to focus on his surroundings. "I think we drank too much."

"Nope. You drank too much." Keira removes her vest, attempts to place it on a near by chair and fails, then heads for the lone bed. "Damn, maybe I drank a bit more then I thought. Morning. . . won't be fun." The room is quiet, too quiet. Keira props herself up on her elbows, her blue eyes scanning the room. Then she notices Carth is awfully quiet for once. Usually he's voicing his opinion, venting his frustration, something.

Instead, he's still propped up against the door, staring at her vest on the floor. "Onasi, you ok?" He doesn't move or say anything and just continues to stare. Keira staggers over to him and gently tugs at his jacket. "Come on flyboy, you need some rest too." She leads him over to the bed and he stops dead in his tracks, refusing to move. "I'll. . . I'll sleep on the floor. . . or the chair."

He takes in a few deep breaths and exhales slowly, rubbing his stomach. "You're not sleeping on the floor! That's ridiculous. We're adults. I'm sure we'll be fine for one night." She slides into the bed and makes her way farthest to the wall. "Look I'll sleep on this side, facing the wall and you can sleep on that side." She points to the side closest to the edge. "Just in case you feel the need to. . . uhh. . . you know vomit." Still he just stares at her, his big brown eyes full of what seems to be fear.

She takes his hands and gets him to sit on the edge of the bed. "Hey, it's ok. . . I don't bite, I prefer stabbing, slashing and punching. I'm really good at kicking butt. . . " Carth actually smiles and lifts his eyes to meet her own. "Yup. . . you really are good at that. . . " His hands tremble and begin to sweat lightly and he pulls them away. Pounding, constant pounding in his head. _What's in that ale anyways?_ His stomach turns and threatens to spill it's contents. _What's wrong with me? I can handle my liquor._

_Gentle hands._Gentle hands remove his jacket and place it aside. "You look a little warm lets take that off. Are you ok flyboy?" His face flushes, he can feel it. "Me. . . yeah, I'm fine." Keira smiles and pokes him lightly in the arm. "Good you had me worried that you were going to puke on me. I swear Onasi, if you puke on me while I'm sleeping. . . " Again, she manages to make him laugh. "No, no. Wouldn't dream of it."

The intoxicated pilot takes another deep breath and exhales. "Well, at least I'm not promising that I won't." He chuckles and straightens his back while rubbing his aching stomach. Keira smiles and shakes her head. "Ok. . . just if you need to throw up, just make sure it lands on the floor." He gives her an acknowledging nod.

Keira slowly rises from the bed and heads for the light switches. He watches her figure as she moves clumsily across the room and turns out the lights. His heart warms at the sight of her, but his mind protests against it. _What are you thinking? It's the drink talking, just the drink. Sleep, you need to sleep._

She heads back towards the bed and he suddenly finds the floor interesting. Carth nets his fingers together and rests his hands on his knees. He waits for her to crawl to her side, but she doesn't.

Keira sits at the edge of the bed with him. "Hey, what's on your mind?" He shrugs his shoulders. "Nothing." _Liar._ She thinks to herself. "Come on, I just want to talk. It might get your mind off of puking."

Carth shakes his head and sighs. "You probably just want to argue some more, right?" He glances at her over his shoulder. "You know me, I'm always up for a good fight." She smiles warmly. The pilot holds back his laughter in order to keep his stomach from aching. "Can't say I've met a woman quite like you before. You're really something."

He sighs and returns his gaze to the floor. "Look, I'm not much for talking. I just don't trust easily, and for good reasons. . . which are my own." Convinced it's the ale controlling her actions, the little scoundrel jabs her commanding officer in the shoulder. "I can make you talk, Carth. Trust me."

Amused with her sudden change of tone, he decides to play her game. "Well I might be willing to take you up on that challenge. But uh, you're just not going to let up, are you?" She stares at him with an obvious _no_ written on her face. Again, the defeated pilot sighs. "Fine. . . you want to know why I don't trust anyone? Here goes."

The Captain explains how Revan and Malak had managed to convince good men from the Republic to join their forces. How he believes that all those men had a different choice and shouldn't have done what they done. How his former mentor and good friend, Saul Karath, had also diverted to the Sith. Worst of all, he told her how this most trusted friend of his tried to recruit _him _for the Sith.

Keira rests a friendly hand on his arm. "I haven't joined the Sith, Carth." Her face showing obvious signs of compassion. "I know. I...should apologize to you. I've become so accustomed to expecting the worst in others, and you've done nothing to deserve that." Carth sighs deeply. "I. . . I could have stopped him. I could have stopped it all."

"You can't blame yourself for trusting a friend, Carth." Keira lifts a hand to his face and forces him to look at her. His eyes close, enjoying the warmth of her touch on his skin. She pushes the falling strands of his hair back so she can see his eyes. "I don't blame myself. . . I blame Saul." Noticing how close she is, he becomes nervous.

Her hand traces the back of his neck down to his shoulder as she inches closer to him. Her face so close. His heart beat quickens and he knows she can hear it. Finding it hard to breath, he finds himself wanting to move away, but he can't. Frozen with either fear or excitement, he can't tell. Her soft lips brush up against his and his eyes widen, but then relax and begin to close.

His instincts kick in. Carth pulls her in closer to him, deepening their kiss. Her tongue glides gently against his own, and he can feel himself begin to shutter. Her hands make their way under his shirt and up his chest. They break their kiss only to remove the now useless piece of clothing. She pulls him back to her and they land hard into the mattress. Her fingers make trails down the side of his torso all the way to his belt.

Carth breaks their kiss and quickly sits up. "I. . . I can't do this." He runs his hands over his face. "I'm sorry." Keira makes her way to him cautiously. She holds his face in her hands. "It's ok. . ." She kisses him. "We're not doing anything wrong." Carth grabs her by the wrists gently. "But you're a soldier and. . . I'm. . . I'm your commanding officer. This isn't right." He hangs his head in shame and guilt. "I'm sorry. I just can't."

"Really flyboy, it's ok." She gives him a reassuring smile and a quick kiss on the cheek, then lies down near the wall and falls fast asleep. Carth places a hand over his heart, trying to calm himself down. _Don't have a heart attack now._He rolls his eyes and thanks the Force that they are both intoxicated and hopes that neither of them will remember this in the morning.

The pilot finds his shirt and jacket and decides against better judgement, that sleeping on the floor would be for the best.

_Morning._Tarisian ale, not so good in the morning. It leaves an unwelcome after taste in the mouth. Keira finds herself wishing she had drank something else. Her eyes study her surroundings and suddenly she realizes where she is. _The Bek Base_.

She stretches her limbs, sits up and rubs her temples. "Wow, I wonder how Onasi is..." Her eyes jolt open. "Carth." She remembers. "Eeek." She throws herself back onto the bed burying her face into the pillows. She can't believe that she had come on so strong to a man that annoys her to no end. And the fact that he had actually not dismissed her right away, leaves her feeling funny. _What's wrong with me?_

Then another realization. "Frak, Carth." Sitting up she scans the room for him. "Where in the. . ." Then she spots him. He's laying on his back on the floor, his jacket nestled ackwardly behind his head. Keira covers her mouth to hold back a fit of laughter. He looks very pitiful. Gingerly, she bends down near his side and feels his forehead. _Not to warm, he should be alright, hung over, but alright._

She leaves the captain alone and heads for the 'fresher.

The elevator ride down to the UnderCity seems long and hot. Carth continues to inhale and exhale. His stomach now doing flips. "You should have eaten something." Carth shakes his head disagreeing. "No. . . that would definitely make me puke." Keira shrugs her shoulders. "Ok. But don't you think it would be better to have something in your stomach to throw up, rather then dry heaving?" Nauseated, Carth frowns. "Look, can we stop talking about this. It's really not helping."

Just as they are about to exit the elevator, two sickly looking men jump in front of them. Keira takes a few steps back. "Uhh. . . can I help you?" The taller man rests his palm against the elevator frame. "This is our elevator. If you want to use it you have to pay us five credits."

Not amused, Carth rolls his eyes. "Oh this is priceless. Even the beggars are trying to shake us down." The tall man becomes aggravated. "Five credits! That's the cost! Now pay up!" Keira begins digging into her pockets. "Now listen. I will give you fifty credits, but you have to promise to leave me and my friend here alone. Got it?" The two men's eyes widen. "Fifty credits? Sure. Whatever you say lady." She hands them the fifty credits and they take off.

After talking to the villagers, they learn that they might be able to find their way to the Vulkar base with the help of the Twi'lek Mission Vao. Also, they learn of the Rakghouls that have been plaguing the outer walls of the village. A medicine woman had informed them that the Sith seem to have some sort of serum for the disease that these beasts carry.

Just before they leave for the sewers, an elderly man by the name of Rukiul approaches them, asking them to search for his assistant and some journals. He believes that these journals will help lead the people of the village to what he calls the holy lands. Keira expalines that they are very busy, but if she happens to come upon anything she will let him know.

Now standing outside the gates of the village, Keira and Carth stare at a creature dead at their feet. "It's ugly." Carth bends down and pokes it with his blaster. "Yeah. But if you hadn't of killed it when you did, that guy would be dead." Keiraglances over at a man and woman embracing. "I guess."

"So, what do you think?" She finds it hard not to stare at this being. It's limbs are clearly human. Its face is contorted, like a reflection in water stirred up by the ripples. It's grey clammy skin and dark empty eyes give her the creeps. "K, lets get back on track."

"Help! Help, anyone."

Keira and Carth both rise and ready themselves for anything about to lunge at them. Then they notice something. Someone, coming out from the darkness. They lower their weapons.

"Help! Please help me, no one else will."

Carth holsters his blasters. "It's Mission." Keira nods and makes her way over to the distraught Twi'lek.


	10. Chapter 10 : Infiltration

_Well this chapter is fun. There are probably some spelling and grammar issues. Currently I have a beta reader going over all of my chapters for me starting from the beginning. As they are fixed up, I will repost them. As for now. I will continue adding chapters, although they might have some slight Issues. I will add the edited versions of them at a later date._

_Please enjoy :D Don't forget to Review :D_

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything here, accept Keira.**

**Chapter 10: Infiltration**

Keira holds her twin blades high over her head blocking a strike from her tall attacker. She pushes back on the blades and kicks her assailant in the gut. In one swift move, she lunges her blades forward and into the chest of the rather large Gamorrean. He squeals in pain. Keira takes in a deep breath and thrusts her blades further into his abdomen. The Gamorrean's body falls limp with a loud thud.

The scoundrel extracts her blades from the corpse and wipes the sweat and dirt from her face with her sleeve. Her eyes examine her surroundings. She spots Mission going through the pockets and bags of their fallen foes. The little Twi'lek moves around ackwordly pass each body. The armored vest she's wearing is really interfering with her graceful movements.

The young girl had originally declined the armored vest. However, seeing as she had little outter protection and they were heading into the sewers. Carth would not take no for an answer and had basically forced the teen to wear his black armored vest. This in turn, led to arguments between the two. Mission had taken the act as an insult and Carth had then commented on her mouth and it's apparent lack of being able to close. The two had then kept distance between each other since.

Then Keira's eyes land on Big Z, as Mission likes to call him. As agreed, Keira and Carth had aided Mission and found her captive friend. When the Twi'lek had first come across them, she had agreed to help them get into the Vulkar base, if they first helped her find her Wookie friend.

Now staring at this Wookie, Kiera realises that he seems to be trying to lift the body of a very hefty Gamorrean, but why? Keira places her blades at her side and makes her way to him. The picture comes into full focus. Carth is partially trapped beneath the body of the pig man. The Gamorrean must have fallen on him after Carth had blasted him in the head.

Keira chuckles under breath. They all must seem to be a rag-tag group, what a site to see. She wonders what someone would think if they should wonder across them.

Zaalbar sees Keira making her way towards them in the corner of his eye. _"Hey! Can you get over here already. This giant pig isn't light and he smells really bad."_

She smiles and makes her way to them faster. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a second to catch my breath here Big guy."

Even Zaalbar had been amazed when he first met Keira. The fact that she could actually understand his dialect had shocked even him. Not too many people could understand the Wookies or cared to. This alone made him instantly like her. Shocking everyone around them, Big Z pledged a life debt to her, payment for saving his life. Somehow, he just knew things would turn out, and that maybe this would be best for both himself and Mission.

Carth's face goes through a few different shades of green while Big Z and Keira lift the massive body off of him. As soon as the Gamorrean is moved aside, Carth leaps to his feet and backs away. "I'm going to be sick." The smell of this place, the Rakghouls and now Gamorrean corpses. It's all too much. He walks away from the group and expells the contents of his stomach.

Keira takes inventory of everything they have. "Ok. We got grenades. Blasters. Med pacs. That serum I found off of that dead Sith corpse. Vibro Blades. All those journals..." She trails off as she digs to the bottom of her bag. "Oh...yeah and this bottle of synthesized odor, whatever that's for."

Mission raises her brow in Keira's direction. "You don't know what that's for?"

The scoundrel chuckles and continues rummaging through the bag. "No. Why, should I?" Big Z and Mission glance at each other. "Wow. I thought everyone knew what that was for. It's to attract Rancors."

"Why would anyone want to do a thing like that?" Carth asks while walking back towards the crew.

"Well for starters it's a great way to set up a trap. Or to lure a Rancor. It's really going to come in handy since there's one guarding the entrance to the Vulkars..."

Stunned, both Carth and Keira glare at the young Twi'lek. "A Rancor! Guarding the base! You never said anything about that."

Mission backs away slowly. "Hey! You guys never asked."

Keira stomps away from the teen aggravated. "That's just great!"

Big Z lets out a few growls and Mission acknowledges him. "I know. . . I know. . . K. Listen. If we put a few of these grenades and some of that odor in it's meal or something. . . it will eat everything in that area. Then well. . . Boom." The teen gestures with her hands in the air the 'boom'. Her over sized jacket sleeves fall to her elbows.

Carth raises a brow in her direction. "Boom. . . you know. . . "

Keira turns briskly on her heel and makes her way to his side. She pulls him aside and in a hushed voice, speaks to him. "You're not actually thinking of going through with this are you? I mean. . . the only one here capable of being that stealthy is Mission. I don't know about you but I don't think I like the idea of sending her in a Rancor nest. . ."

The captain rubs his chin as if in deep thought. "It's not like we have much of a choise here. The kids got a good head on her shoulder."

Keira's eyes widen, she can't believe this. "Carth. . ." Just as she's about to further protess this insanity, he walks away from her. He makes his way to Mission and they discuss their plan.

_Oh Force it smells in here. I can't believe that I haven't puked yet. Ok, now just place these gently between these two corpses. . . Oh eww one of their hands touched me. Forget about the hand. Concentrate on the pin. . . Ok. . . it's set. _Mission mentally talks her way through the process of setting the charges for the giant beast. She carefully places her package and then makes her way back to her friends.

The teen deactivates her stealth generator and gives the group a thumbs up. "Alright. It's all set. Just got to wait for that dumb animal to eat its din din."

Amazed, Keira lays a hand on the young girls shoulder. "Great job Mish. Lets hope it works."

A few moments go by until the beast finally smells the sent coming from the bodies. The Rancor charges and engulfs its meal in one swift gulp. Mission covers her ears and turns her head, the others pay no attention and wait for the 'boom'. The animal begins to walk away then stops. It staggers and moans. The grenades explodes. The sound is imense. It echoes through the tunnels and the ground beneath their feet quake.

"See I told you. BOOM!" Mission jumps up and down clapping her hands. Then she notices that everyone is covered in a greenish slime and bits of flesh. She covers her mouth and begins gagging. "Oh. . . Force. . . I think I'm going to puke."

Zaalbar once again lets out a few sets of growls and roars, obviously not happy with the situation. _"This is not going to be easy to get off of me." _

Carth wipes the slime off of his bare arms and face with his hands. "Well, I guess it's good that there's nothing left in my stomach."

Keira, in total disgust, runs her hands over her face and through her hair, trying to get as much of the Rancor off as possible. "Ok. Lets get out of her before we all get sick."

Hours later the crew returns to the village in the Undercity. Keira hands Rukil the journals she had found. "Oh thank you upworlder. You have saved us all. I don't know how we can ever repay you. You've done so much."

She smiles warmly. "Don't worry about it. Just get your people to safety." The two exchange goodbyes and Rukil heads off to find Gandar to plan the villages departure.

Keira regroups with her crew and they head to the elevator. "Did you guys remember to give the healer that serum?"

Mission nods and hands Keira another vile. "She said to give you this. She wants us to give some to Zelka so that he will be able to make more."

Keira pockets the tiny vile and smiles. How can their situation get any worse? They're covered in filth. Everything from dirt, blood, sweat, slime and Force knows what else. Most of their clothing are in ruins. Her bag that she had recently purchased, now nothing more then a rag tied to her side. She's positive that they all smell like the sewers and whatever else is on them. To make matters worse, they found no sign of Bastila in the Vulkar base.

The only thing they did find, was some new gear and the accelerator that Gadon had asked them to retrieve.

And now they stand around, waiting for the elevator to descend. "I don't think it's coming Big Z. Maybe I should take a look at the controls." Mission bends down and starts taking apart the blinking mechanism near the elevators frame. "Yeah. There's a problem here. I'll just need ten minutes."

Exhaling, Keira leans against the frame and allows herself to slump to the ground. It's the first time since they've been on Taris, that she seems to be totally exhausted. She's actually having a hard time keeping her eyes open. _So tired._

Carth notices Keira sitting on the ground and kneels by her side. "You ok beautiful?"

She opens her eyes to see him staring at her, worried. "Me. . . yeah. I'm fine. Just tired."

The captain shakes his head. "I told you not to use too many stems. Sure, they're good to get you going in a fight, but the after affects aren't that great. You're crashing. How many did you use anyways?"

Keira closes her eyes hard, as if trying to recall the amount. "I don't know, eight maybe ten." She rubs her temples trying to will herself to stay awake.

"Ten? Are you mad?"

Keira continues rubbing her temples, now in an attempt to ignore her Captain. "Carth. Please. Can we not do this? I'm so exhausted. . . yes, too exhausted to argue."

Carth glances up at Mission to see what's taking her so long. There are a bunch of wires hanging from the elevator controls and the young Twi'lek is going through them one by one.

"So, you haven't told me much about yourself." The pilot raises his brow in Keira's direction.

"What's there to know?" She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Well, how did you manage to get onto my ship for starters? And how do you just happen to know so many languages?"

Keira lets her hands fall to her lap and sighs. "Well, I seem to have this talent to learn different languages fairly quick. My dad was the same way. . . or so I was told. And let me tell you it comes in handy with my job. As for being 'placed' on your ship. Republic and Jedi council Orders. I'm not exactly sure as to why they wanted or even needed me."

Carth stares at her, seeming to process this new information. "So what was your job? You know, before you ended up on the Endar?"

The little scoundrel tilts her head back and allows it to rest against the frame. "You know Onasi, you shouldn't ask questions to which you really don't want to know the answers." She smiles lightly and stares off into the distance.

Again, the pilot stares at her. "No seriously. Listen sister, I think I deserve some answers here. I told you a little bit about myself because you gave me that speal about how we need to work together. Now I expect the same from you." He stares at her waiting for her to answer.

"Fine. You want to know, then fine. But don't you go lecturing me." Keira gives the young Twi'lek a quick glance to see if she's listening. She doesn't seem to be, but Keira makes sure to keep her voice just above a hush. It's not that she's ashamed of what she is or of what she's done. It's just that she doesn't want the teen to think less of her. But why? Why would what some little blue Twi'lek think of her matter? Keira brushes off these thoughts and clears her throat.

"I was. . . am a smuggler." She drops her gaze to the ground. "I've smuggled lots of things. Mostly spice. But there were always other deliveries no one else would do. Always places and planets most smugglers didn't want to go to. So, when someone wanted something delivered to these places or had something of great importance. . ."

"They would get in contact with you." Carth finishes her sentence.

Keira shifts uneasy on the ground. "Exactly."

"So how did you end up on the Endar?"

Keira chuckles and adjusts the sleeves on her tattered shirt. "I'm getting to that. About one year ago, the Republic had heard through some intel about my success. I won't go into details about my little tricks of the trade, but lets just say I'm extremely good at what I do."

"Go on." Carth almost seems interested in what she's telling him. There's no sign of anger of disgust on his face. Maybe he's just trying to hear her side of the story.

So she continues. "So, one day I'm at the cantina on Nar'shada. I'm waiting for some spice and weapons to be loaded onto my ship. But I haven't seen my dealer or any of his thugs all day. Right away I know somethings up. Next thing you know, I'm being interegated by a few Republic officers. They say they have enough evidence and witnesses to put me away for a long time."

Keira smirks. "They kept demanding that I give them a list of my clients and what I've been shipping for them. I refuse, not because I don't want to, but because I don't have a list. I don't keep anything. I always meet somewhere crowded and very public. I ensure my clients that no records will be kept. I pick up and drop off. I get paid half at the beginning and the other half at the drop off."

"So what did the Republic want with you?" Carth is intrigued by her story. Why would the Republic want anything to do with a smuggler?

"So I get tossed in jail for a bit. A few weeks later, I got some Republic official telling me that if I agree to smuggle something for them, that my record would be cleared."

"What did he want you to smuggle?"

Keira shrugs her shoulders. "Not sure really. All I know was that I had to go to Manaan and meet up with someone in the Cantina. I showed, stayed the entire day too."

Carth now shows clear signs of being puzzled. "Ok, so no one showed up?"

Keira shakes head. "Nope. So I took off."

The captain shakes his head in disbelief. "Well that still doesn't explain how you ended up on the Endar."

The smuggler smiles. "Wait there's more. So I took off. I figured, I did my share, no one showed, not my problem. I end up meeting with this representative for this Hutt. He says I will get paid three times the amount I usually ask, all I have to do is deliver the goods with no questions ask. The rep tells me to meet him at the docking station on Nar'shada. So I do."

"He shows up and says I have sometime to kill while they load my ship. I leave my crew there to deal with them and head out to buy some supplies. When I get back, half of my crew is dead. As for the rep and his crew, all dead. My partner tells me that they were loading some crates when they noticed it had holes in it. So he took a peak inside."

Keira sighs deeply, her voice almost trembling. "The crates were full of slaves! Can you believe that?"

Carth shakes his head. "So what did you do?"

Keira looks at her captain, her brow scrunched together. "We let them out of course!" She sighs heavily. "Sixteen. . . there were sixteen female teen Twi'leks in there. All of them were being shipped to Taris to be sold like animals." Keira glances over her shoulder at Mission.

"I couldn't do it. I just couldn't." She clears her throat and continues her story. "So, I decided to head to Coruscant. Figured that they would be safe there. I pay some Rodians to get rid of the bodies in the docking bay and decide to take whatever else the rep was getting me to deliver and make a profit off of it."

"What was left of my crew had decided to abandon me. Claiming I was making enemies. Becoming a target."

Carth sighs. "That must have been hard to swallow."

"Not really, I expected it."

Keira begins to stand and Carth follows suit. "So then what?"

Again, she smirks. He really is interested. "So, I took off with the sixteen twi'leks. Somehow, what comes after that is a little bit of a blur. . ." The little smuggler stretches her limbs and lets out a long yawn. "I remember my ship being fired on. Being dragged out of my cock pit. Waking up in a med bay. And I remember a Republic officer telling me I had to board the Endar, otherwise they were going to send me out for termination."

The captains eyes widen. "Termination?"

Keira lets out a set of chuckles. "Well yeah. You don't smuggle, get caught, agree to help the Republic and then take off without being punished, Carth. Oh and get this, the Republic was actually convinced that I killed the guy on Manaan that never showed up."

"Well given your reputation. . ." The pilot points out. "I would have thought the same thing."

"Yeah. . .so that's it. Well all that I can remember."

Carth is now way beyond confused. Not only did the Republic higher a smuggler, but they did so twice. Why send her aboard the Endar with no real reason? Something just didn't add up. "So you're saying they didn't give you a reason? That doesn't make sense."

Keira shrugs her shoulders. "Well none that I can remember." The pair allow the thought to process. None of this makes any sense.

Deciding to leave the thought alone for now, Carth breaks the silence. "So. . . Uhmm. . .What happened to the Twi'lek girls?" Keira's eyes glycine with the hint of tears and he knows. "I'm sorry. . . I. . . At least you tried to do the right thing." Keira lowers her head in guilt.

"Done. That should do it." Mission recovers the box and stands. She pushes a set of buttons and the elevator doors open. She stands aside and gestures for everyone to walk in.

"Good job Mish." Keira gives her a half smile and pats her on the shoulder. The group crams into the small space and the elevator slowly makes its way up the shaft. _So tired, just a few seconds._Keira rests her head against the cold metal of the elevator. Her eyes close and she drifts off.

_A woman fighting a dark figure. An explosion. A Jedi. A ship. Lightsaber against lightsaber. A Jedi. Darkness._

"Keira."

Her eyes bolt open to see brown eyes staring at her once more. "Sorry. I'm just. . ." She covers her mouth as a yawn escapes past her lips. "I just need a few minutes and I'll be fine."

Carth hands his blasters to Mission, removes Keiras blades from her belt and hands them to Zaalbar. "That's it. We can't be stopping every five minutes for you to pass out." He scoops her up in his arms just as the doors open.

"Hey! I'm fine. Just give me. . ."

Carth heads out the door carrying the tiny woman. "The hell you are." Not having the strength to argue with him, she leans her head against his shoulder and allows her eyes to rest. _Just for a bit. Just for a minute._

Mission leads the way back to the Beck base. Big Z follows not to far behind her carrying the swoop bike part. He slows down when he realises that Carth is a little behind. He would offer to carry the sleeping woman, but he knows that the paranoid pilot would have no idea what he's saying. Instead he just waits and allows Carth to catch up.

"Ok. We're here." The teen heads through the doors grinning. "Hey Zaerdra! How's it going?"

The older female Twi'lek eyes widen in surprise as she follows the figure of Mission walking through the front doors. "Mission?" She studies the teen. "Do you smell as bad as you look?" Then she notices the two that were at the base the day before. _The man's carrying the woman. Something must be wrong._"I'll go get Gadon."

Gadon was very pleased to know that they successfully retrieved the accelerator. He offered once more for all of them to stay at the base. Reviewing their current situation, Carth had accepted. After settling in to clean clothing and eating a fresh meal, the group was informed that Gadon needed someone to ride the swoop bike. However, they were warned that the accelerator hadn't had time to be tested and that the contest was taking place tomorrow. Carth would have declined, but then he was informed that the prize for winning the race would be a Jedi Woman. _Bastila._So he accpeted.

"I'm not hungry. It's like I can still smell that Rancor." Mission pokes at her food with her tongue sticking out. "And not to be gross, but this stuff kind of reminds me of it." She pushes her plate away and Big Z pulls it towards himself. "Yeah, I thought you'd want it." The blue Twi'lek glances over her shoulder at the woman sleeping on one of the beds. "She going to be ok?" She looks up at Carth, who still hasn't eaten anything.

"Hmmm? Keira? Yeah. Don't worry kid. She'll be fine. Just took too many stems." He gives her an awkward smile over his mug of Caffa.

"Yeah. . . I guess. . . I heard that taking too many at once can have bad after effects." The Twi'lek glances back at Keira's sleeping form. "She's going to have a bantha when she finds out what you're doing."

"Well, it has to be done. It only makes sense that I go. I don't even know if she knows how to ride a swoop bike. Even if she did. . ." He stares over his mug into space.

"Yeah. . ." The room grows silent. Mission stirs in her seat and sniffs the air. "Oh man, I sure hope she wakes up soon. She's the only one that hasn't gotten clean yet."

The mechanics go over a check list on a data pad, making sure they didn't forget to check anything. Carth watches them trying to get his mind of the track.

_Now don't overdue it. Don't want that thing exploding. Don't die. Don't crash. Don't die. _He inhales deeply and lets the breath escape his quivering lips. _I'm so going to die. Well at least. . . No don't think of that. You were both drunk it doesn't. . ._

"Ok. Beks you're up."

Carth straps on his helmet and steers his bike to the starting line. _Get good timing. Get good timing. _

"Ready?"

Carth gives the thumbs up and one by one the lights start lighting up._Frak, what have you gotten yourself into?_

"GO!"

The swoop bike takes off down the track. He misses the first platform. That won't happen again. He doges the rubble and salvage in the middle and on the sides of the track. He hits the next platform, it sends him forward with a jolt, whipping his head back against the seat.

Again, he dodges another pile of rubble and another. A platform, he hits it. His speed doubles. Next platform, he hits it at an angel and manages to steer the bike from smashing into the wall. One more platform. He sees it in the distance. Passing by the next pile of scraps he hits the button for the accelerator to kick in. The bikes exhaust lets out a load thunder and pushes him forward as he comes up to the next platform. He hits his mark. The bike hits the platform and speeds past the finish line.

The bike comes to a stop. Under the tint of the helmet, Carth smiles. "Ok. That was fun. Scary. But fun." He finds it odd that he's actually enjoying something that might kill him. Maybe he's not as old as he thought he was. He steps out of the bike and glances up at the announcing board. **BEKS 32.8**

He heads back to the pit. The Bek members pat him on the back hard as he passes by them. "Best time ever!" The Ithorian mechanic yells. The once dimmed bike pit now seems full of energy. As the captain makes his way to his seat, he passes by a slave cage. _Bastila_. He tries not to seem to interested as he passes by.

_She seems to be unhurt. Onasi, you have to win._


	11. Chapter 11 :Jedi Princess

_A little chapter just to let you know that I'm still around. Just haven't had much time for this story lately. I hope you enjoy :D_

**Disclaimer : Nothing here is mine accept Keira and my ideas. Right...**

**Chapter 11 : Jedi Princess**

After finishing his second round with the swoop bike, Carth Onasi is beginning to believe that he might just actually win this race. His fear of dying on the track now replaced with confidence. _You can do this old man_. His score now displayed across the announcing board. **BEKS 28.6**

Not permitted in or near the pits, Keira, Mission and Big Z watch from the top of the crowded stands. From the very beginning, Keira had argued that she didn't approve of Carth being the one to race. Although it did make complete sense why he should be the one to do it. He after all is a pilot and Keira has no experience driving a swoop bike. _Why would she? _

Mission sticks out her tongue and begins to 'boo' at a Vulkar member who has just crushed Carth's score. The new time to beat now displayed high for everyone to see **VULKARS 24.8**. "Aww man! This blows. Carth could have won this with just racing two of his heats. Now he has to go a third time."

Keira studies the 'time' to beat up on the announcing board. "What do you think his chances are?"

Mission pauses from her 'booing' and gives her scoundrel friend a lop sided smile. "Not good. But he's got the Bek bike. And we both know it's got certain advantages."

"Yeah...I guess your right."

Carth grins as he steers his bike to the starting line once more. The captain stretches his arms in-front of him and gives his wrists a good shake. _No pressure. Relax_. The start light flashes and he takes off. Not missing one platform, he makes every jump and uses the accelerator each time._ Got to beat 24.8. Get 24.7 or 24.6. Just beat his time. _

Lights on the wall flicker in his sight as he speeds down the track. His memory is working over time trying to remember exactly where each piece of wreckage is, exactly when to hit the little red button that will launch him forward at double the speed. _Two piles of wreckage, that means the next jump is now_. He hits the button. The bike speeds up, it's engine thunders and he is sent hurtling pass the finish line.

The crowd jumps in excitement cheering the Beks. Keira stands on her seat in order to see the score. **BEKS 23.5 **She expects to see Carth returning with the swoop bike. Expects to see him be congratulated by the mechanics.

Expects to see him.

"Somethings wrong. Where is he?" Keira eyes scan the pit and then the track.

"I can't see him." Mission stretches herself high and stands on her tippy toes trying to see over the bobbing heads of the spectators.

"Oh Force!" Keira bolts down the walkway and heads for the pits. She bursts past the guards of the entrance to the swoop bike area and darts down the track.

Ahead she can see flames, lots of flames. Her heart rate quickens as she picks up her speed. "Carth! Carth! Oh Force..." She closes in on the wreckage and notices the pilot pulling himself out of the pile of burning metal.

"Carth!" He doesn't seem to hear her.

The dazed captain pulls himself from the wreckage and stands. He can feel his back burning. Hastily he rips the jacket off and tosses it aside. Falling to one knee he attempts to remove his helmet. _So hard to breath_. The captain wheezes as the smell of burning plastic fills his senses.

Finally, he manages to remove his head gear and takes in a deep breath. Now on both knees, he winces as the pain of the crash slowly starts to take affect. Forcing his eyes to open, he notices someone running down the track shouting his name. He attempts to stand, but is doubled over by the pain coursing throughout his body.

"Force. Carth." Keira kneels down beside him. She holds the pilots face in her hands. "Are you alright?"

He winces and grits his teeth together in an attempt to hold back the searing pain. "I. . . I'm not sure. . . Think I might have. . . Breathing. . . So hard to breath." His own body weight begins to take a toll on him and he falls to his side.

Keira removes her jacket and rests it under his head. "I need to check you for serious enjuries."

She drags her hands along his scalp and neck and checks her fingers. No blood. She feels his shoulders and back. Nothing seems to be broken. Feeling his ribs lightly with her finger tips, she finds a problem. A broken rib. Somehow she just knows that it has punchured his lung.

Then suddenly, the strangest thing happens. Her hands hover just above his chest. She begins taking slow even breaths. Her hands tingle.

"Feels like cool water." She says out loud while closing her eyes. Something feels so right, so natural.

Keira continues to breath slowly. Then she feels it. The cool water sensation makes its way from her center and stretches out to her finger tips. She can feel it flow through her veins.

She opens her eyes just as she feels the_ water _reach her finger tips. A light blue glow surrounds her hands and then she gently rests them above her comrades chest. After a few moments of concentration, the pilots breathing regulates and he falls into a deep sleep.

Keira holds her hands out in front of her, looking at them like they were some alien object she had never seen before. She turns them left to right. "How. . . How did I. . . What did I. . . ?"

"Keira! Keira! Oh Force! Is he ok? I mean is he. . . Don't let him be. . ." Mission runs towards Keira and quickly makes her way to Carths side. She covers her mouth in shock, the worst of thoughts coming to mind.

"No. . . He's ok. I think. Z, can you and Mish stay here with him. I will go get a medic and see what's going on with Bastila."

Mission stares up at Keira horrified. "What?!"

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. I won't be long." Keira darts off back towards the pits as Mission and Big Z are left behind wondering what is going on.

_Thick black smoke hide the brilliant bright glow of the stars as Carth looks to the night sky. Out of breath, he bends over resting his palms on his knees. He attempts to take a few breaths. The smoke, the smell of sulfur and burning flesh make it almost impossible to breath. _

_Again he darts off running. His feet hitting the ground hard as he makes his way to what use to be a familiar place. These streets, this city, these people almost seem unidentifiable to him. Everything is so different. Everything is burning. Everything._

Keira watches as the pilot mumbles and stirs in his sleep. His body is covered in a cold sweat. Lightly, she finger combs his hair trying to sooth him. She is hoping that maybe at least in this state that he will sleep peacefully.

The captains eyes dart open. He attempts to sit, but a sudden rush of pain hits him. Carth falls back to the mattress clenching his naked chest. Keira steadies him and urges him to stay still.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy. It's ok." She continues to allow her hand to run through his hair.

Carth eyes his surroundings, studying the walls and the ceiling. "Are we..." He holds his side realizing that talking will be difficult. "Are we still at the Bek base?"

The little scoundrel smiles warmly. "Yes." She hands him a glass of water from the side table. "You have to take it easy. You were seriously hurt back there."

Carth accepts the glass of water and drinks it quickly. "Hurt. . ." Realization settles in. "Hurt. Right. I remember." He sighs.

"You were very lucky. Another few seconds and you might have. . ."

"Died. I know." Again, he clutches his side.

Keira stops playing with his hair and sits back in her chair. _He should be dead. How did I...? He doesn't need to know._

"For what it's worth, thank-you." Carth squeezes her hand lightly. "How long have I been here?"

"One day. Oh and you won the race Carth." She smiles brightly and rests her elbows on the edge of the mattress. "Although, things after that didn't go smoothly. I managed to get Bastila out of there."

Carth's eyes widen at this new knowledge. "What? Really? Well...where is she then? Is she alright?"

"Hey, hey. I said take it easy. You need to rest. And don't worry. She's fine. Her, Mish and Big Z are all back at the apartment." She pats the top of his hands with her palm lightly. "Everyone is safe and Ok. Now rest."

Feeling relieved, the captain sighs heavily as if trying to push out the stress. "Yeah I got one question though?"

Keira shifts her wait in her chair. "What's that?"

Carth lifts the sheets a few inches off of his body and stares under them. "Where the hell are all my clothes?"

Bastila meditates in the main area of the apartment. Her mind going over recent events. Things about Keira bother her. _Why did she seem so talented in many things. Fighting, languages, mechanics, computer. And now this new revelation. Healing. How?_

Although Keira never told her about how she healed Carth. Bastila knows. Being Jedi has it certain priveledges, one being able to enter the minds of others.

As the young Padawan continues to meditate, the apartment door opens.


	12. Chapter 12 : Plans of Escape

_**This is more of a Revan/Carth chapter. But who doesn't like that? The next few are going to be quite exciting adventure/action wise, so I figured I would put this here.**_

_**Now, I know there are bound to be many spelling/grammar mistakes in here. But I plan to fix them at a later date. I just wanted to add something. Since I haven't done so in such a long long time. Hope you enjoy :D**_

**Chapter 12 : Planning the Escape**

Keira sighs and slowly begins to enter the apartment. "I told you. I had nothing to do with that. When I came back to check on you, after I rescued Bastila..." The scoundrel sends a cold stare in the direction of the young Jedi sitting on the floor facing the wall. "...the Beks had already taken you to their med center. I did not touch or take your clothing."

The captain smirks and crosses his arms against his chest. "Alright fine." A devilish smile now plays across his face. "But you can't tell me that you weren't planing on relieving me of my clothes ... you know if the Beks wouldn't have." He bends slightly, his nose almost touching hers, and winks.

Keiras face does a mix twist of disgust. She straightens her back and puts on a stance of defense. "I think that crash really messed up your head! There's no way that I would ever even dream of touching or relieving you of your..." She gives Carth a quick up and down glance and flicks his jacket with her fingers. "Attire."

A little insulted, but still in playful mood, Carth stands to his full height looking down at her. "Well sister, you didn't seem to be complaining the other night." He brushes past her smiling. "Thought I forgot, did you?" He says, just above a whisper.

Her mouth is still hanging open, her finger is still pointing at him as he walks away. She was just about to say something clever to throw back at him. But instead she has nothing. Not one word. All she's left with is her dumb struck expression, a crimson red face and a flash back of herself tearing off his shirt at the Bek base. How is she ever going to live that down?

"Ah Force!" She stomps her foot and heads for the fresher.

In shock herself, the female Jedi, Bastila continues to stare at the wall. Her legs are still crossed and her hands are still neatly placed on her knees. The couples odd conversation had awoken her from her meditation and now she found herself in shock. She doesn't move a muscle, the words that the captain had spit out at the end is now what bothers her.

"They couldn't have..." Her mind drifts off on what could have occurred during her absence. "The council will not be pleased if..." She swallows hard and blinks her eyes closed for a moment. "_There is no passion, there is serenity..._" She stands, smooths out her robes and heads to the main area of the apartment.

As if just noticing her, Carths eyes fill with hope for the first time since his crash landing on Taris. "Bastila! I'm happy to know that you're alright. Finally, things are looking up!" He pulls out a chair next to Mission and sits with a heavy sigh. "Now all we need to do is figure a way off this blasted planet."

The Padawan, aggravated rests her hands on her hips and begins circling the room. "You mean you don't have a plan to get of Taris yet? What have you been doing all this time?" Her eyes land on a familiar face entering the room.

Again, Keira finds herself having to be defensive. "I'm getting a little sick of this attitude of yours!"

Shocked, Bastila cocks her head back slightly. "My attitude?" The Jedi approaches the scoundrel. Now face to face, the Jedi breathes in heavy breaths of frustration. "It strikes me that you are the one in sore need of an attitude adjustment." Bastila turns on her heal, adjusts a strand of hair behind her ear and then crosses her arms. "I happen to be in charge of this mission, if you'll recall."

Feeling the tension in the room and their little group beginning to split, Carth rises from his chair slowly with his palms pressed firmly against the table. "I know you're new at this, Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops just because things aren't going as planned. Don't let your ego get in the way of the real issues here."

Even more annoyed now, the young Jedi rolls her eyes and faces the captain. "That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth. I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission. Don't forget that."

Bastila takes a few steps away from the table. "My Battle Meditation ability has helped the Republic many times in this war, and it will serve us well here I am sure." She lifts her chin slightly, proud.

Onasi makes his way around the table shaking his head. "Your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader." He points out. "A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat then she ever will."

Keira places herself between the two and raises her hands. "Ok, both of you settle down. This isn't helping." She gives Carth a stare that says 'sit down' and he does.

Relaxing her shoulders and stance, Bastila clasps her hands behind her back and smiles warmly. "Yes...you're right, of course. I apologize, Carth. This has been a very difficult time for me. Of course I'm happy to listen to your advice. What do you suggest we do?"

The corner of his mouth rises. "First off, we can't get hung up on who's in charge, we all need to work together if we want to get off this rock. The answer is out there..." He leans back in the chair and rubs his hands over his tired face. "...we just have to find it."

"Well said Carth. And the sooner we start looking, the better. I've already been a prisoner of the Vulkars..." The Jedi's skin crawls at the mention of that ordeal. "...and I don't plan on being capture by the Sith."

"Ok. So now what?" Keira said mockingly. _Like she'll come up with something we haven't tried already._

Bastila thought a moment, rubbing her chin with her index and thumb. "We'll probably need help getting off of Taris. Maybe if we ask around one of the locals might be able to help us out. We should probably start at one of the cantinas."

Keira takes a deep breath. "Look not to bash your idea, but we already ..."

The captain cuts her short. "Asking locals at the cantina. Sounds good." He turns his head and raises his brow at Keira. "Right?"

Confused, she plays along. "Uh yeah...sure." She shrugs her shoulders approving.

Carth returns his attention to Bastila. "But look, here's the thing. The Sith are combing the streets. They have a detailed description of you..."

Shocked Bastila moves forward. "What? How is that possible? How do you know this?"

Again, Carth raises his hands in defense. "Trust me, we saw the data pads." The pilot stands up and begins hoalstering his blasters. He grabs the Jedi's shoulder lightly and points to the doors. "If you go out there, before we figure a way off this planet..."

Bastila dips her head. "Understood. What would you have me do then?" Her eyes plead him for something constructive to do.

Unable to think of anything, Carth stares in Keira's direction, looking for an answer. "Uh...well."

Keira catching on, rises to her feat and makes her way to Bastila. "Actually, are you any good with vibroblades or anything of that nature?"

A few hours later in a near by cantina, Keira, Carth and Mission find themselves slumped in a booth.

Mission smiles while tracing the top of her mug with her finger. "I can't believe you guys actually got her to stay." She laughs.

"It really was for her own good. We can't have her parading around while the Sith are out looking for her. Plus I think we can do with a little break from her." Carth says, trying not to choke on his ale.

"Yeah, I guess. I still don't get why Z volunteered to stay behind with her." Mission smiles back.

"Probably because he doesn't want her wrecking any of the weapons." Keira blurts out laughing.

"Hey, you guys got a few credits to spare? I think I can win us a bit of extra cash playing pazaak."

"Sounds like a good idea kid." Knowing her talent for the game, Carth gives the young girl a hand full of credits.

The Twi'lek almost drools over the stash in her hands. "Thanks Geezer, you're not bad." She bumps the pilots arm with her hip as she walks by.

Carth shrugs his shoulders. "I have my moments."

Keira's eyes scan the cantina. _What are we supposed to find here that we haven't already found? Why would she get us to come here?_

"Keira!"

"Huh?...What?" she blinks, as if waking from a daze.

"Wow, where were you?" Carth eyes her suspiciously.

She shakes her head and sips at her drink. "Me...I...uh...just thinking."

"Of what?"

"What do you mean 'of what'?" She places her empty glass on the table. "Just...you know...everything."

"I see." The pilots eyes lighten. "You're thinking of me again, aren't you?"

Keira bursts out laughing. "Ok. Now I know you're delusional fly boy." She wipes the tears of laughter from under her eyes and begins scanning the crowd again. "Just because I have one moment of weirdness when I'm drunk, doesn't mean..."

An explosion goes off at the booth behind them. Keira is thrown to the floor and Carth is sent over the table and crashes down on her. He tries to shield himself and Keira from the debris still flying with his arm and shoulder.

"Sith Spit!" He winces as a table form an unknown area wails into his back and hip. Then, nothing. No more stuff flying through the air, no more ringing in his ears. Smoke begins to fill the room. Some wires are crackling and hanging low. People begin to move around, most still drowsy. Low grunts and moans can be heard from those getting use to the ringing in their ears or their pains from the blast.

Using his left forearm, he pushes the table off. He takes a quick glance around, then turns his attention to the woman beneath him. "Hey, you alright?"

Keira's face is planted into his chest. Her hands cling to his new white shirt. Her breathing is rigid and she's shaking uncontrollably. She can't help but think. _Out of everything she's been through, why is it that a grenade blast is the thing that terrifies her the most? _Tears begin to moisten her eyes. She tightens her eyelids and squeezes the pilots shirt harder.

Carth brings them both to a sitting position. Somehow, he manages to pry her face from him. Her eyes are wide like a new born Kath pup full of fear. He moves the tangled mess of hair from her eyes to behind her ears.

"Keira, you alright?" She doesn't seem to hear him. He concludes that the blast most of affected her hearing for the moment. Holding her steady, he grips her chin and tilts her head side to side. Nothing, she seems fine. Then why can't she hear him?

"Carth...?"

He smiles. "Yeah?" They lock eyes and his heart pace quickens. He leans in close to her face and brushes her bottom lip with his thumb. Her eyes begin to close, and his breathing depends. Her grip on his shirt tightens. Carth wraps an arm around her waist and begins to close the gap between them. One of Keira's hands leave his shirt and travels to the back of his neck and pulls his face closer. Now it's his turn to shake uncontrollably. He takes a deep breath and plants a kiss lightly on her lips.

She exhales into his mouth and grabs a hand full of his hair as their kiss deepens. She can feel a low grunt in the back of his throat form as he kisses her.

Then realization. Her eyes bolt open and she pushes the captain away from her.

"Force! Where's Mission?"


	13. Chapter 13 : Leaving

**_Righty-oh! I'm on a roll here. Another chapter. Again, yesh I know there are probably a great deal of grammar errors or something along those lines. But I hope you all enjoy this either way._**

**_I seem to be slowly moving away from the dialect of the game. But I still use some of it here and there. Or I just change it a bit. Just more to my liking is all._**

**Disclaimer: Yeah yeah...you know what goes here.**

**Chapter 13 : Leaving**

"Mission!" Carth screams at the top of his lungs searching for her. Why does this entire scene seam familiar to him? "MISSION!" He yells louder and a little more desperate each time. He tosses over tables and chairs, pushes his way through a crowd and again is searching among the clattered debris of the cantina.

"It's no use..." Keira bends over exhausted with her hands on her knees. "...she's not here Carth. We would have found her by now."

"No, no,...not again. This can't be happening again. She's here damn it! Keep looking!" Carth snaps at her. He continues to throw debris and tables around, this time more in frustration than in concern.

"What in the..." Mission suddenly appears near the bar. "What happened here?" She throws the two adults a look of mischief. "Hey did you guys have a little too much fun without me? I mean did yah ruff up some Sith scum or...Hey! Let go!"

Missions slaps at the hand currently gripping her upper arm tightly. Carths stare is one that could scare Sith Lords. "Where the hell were you?"

Missions stops slapping at his hand and now faces Keira. "Is he serious?" She laughs a little. A little too much, for the captains liking.

"Oh, I'm serious alright." He lets go of her arm, glares at her again. Then, something strange happens. His expression become soft and caring. His eyes moisten a bit, just enough for her to notice.

Now concerned, Mission realizes that something big had just happened. "Hey...Carth...you ok? Are you hurt or something?"

The pilot rests his hands on his waist, takes a deep breath, arches his aching back and exhales. "Yeah, Mish. I'm fine." He lets his head hang low, and then pulls her into a hug. "I..I thought we lost you Mish. I really did."

She feels him squeeze her a little more and can't help but smile at the thought that these people actually care for her. The young Twi'lek returns the hug, allowing her head to rest against his chest. "I'm sorry, Carth. I just stepped out for a minute. I thought I saw Canderous, figured he would know how to help us get off Taris...and then...when I came back..."

Carth hushes her and holds her a minute longer. "Look kid, you just had our guts in a twist there for a minute. That's all. Sorry I snapped at you."

She shrugs her shoulders. "No big deal, old man." They both laugh and begin walking towards Keira.

"Are you going to hug me to? Because I sware..." Before she can finish, Mission does indeed find herself in yet another strong hold hug.

"Just shut up." Keira says laughing. She looks the young girl in the face. "You sure you're ok?"

"Geez you guys. Yeah I'm fine. Sheesh!" Mission breaks free of Keira's hold and begins walking off. "Now do you guys want to know what Canderous said or what?"

Both the scoundrel and the captain nod.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Staring up from under a table, Carth aims and fires his blasters. "GOT YOU!" Another Sith soldier body falls to the floor. He glances up and sees Keira still battling with the same Sith soldier.

She ducks just as a blaster beam buzzes over her head. Using the power in her legs, she pushes her body from the floor and launches herself at the last soldier in this room. In seconds, she's on him. He has no time to react. The blade slashing through his throat is too fast for him to see.

Thud.

Another body on the floor.

Keira wipes the blades of her vibroswords with a rag. From the corner of her eye she can see her captain lying under a steel table. "Still hiding down there?" She smiles.

"Hiding? No. That sister, was surviving." He holsters his blasters. "You know I managed to drop eight guys at the door while you were playing with that one." Carth brushes past her to a set of elevator doors. "Great, we finally get past all those Sith Soldiers to end up at a dead end?"

Keira walks up to stand beside him. She pulls a card from her pocket and waves it in front of Carths face. "This is why I was 'playing' with the last one." She says sticking out her tongue.

She sticks the card in the slot and the doors open. "I guess we're going up." They both step in and the doors close behind them.

"So what you think is going to be behind these doors when we stop?" Carth asks her, still looking at the doors.

"Don't know. Don't care. All I know, is that whatever is there, means it's an obstacle in the way of us getting off this Sith infested planet." She turns her head up to look at Carth. "You got my back?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way beautiful."

She gives him a nod.

The doors open.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

High above Taris the Leviathan hovers in space. The Sith Lord Malak gazes down at the planet from one of the ships windows. He can't help but feel desperate. _Why haven't we found Bastila yet? Her battle meditation, we need to capture her. Dead or alive. And this presence I feel, what is it? Why is it familiar?_ He clasps his hands behind himself, the doors to the bridge open.

A sickly thin man enters the room. He kneels down on one knee, bows his head and places his knuckles against the steel floor. "You summoned me, Lord Malak?"

Malak doesn't turn around, he just continues his stare out the window. "The search for Bastila is taking too long. We cannot rish her escaping Taris. Destroy the entire planet."

The Admirals eyes open and grow big. He stares up at his master. "The...the entire planet, Lord Malak?" He stands and brushes off his pants with his hands. "But...there are billions of people on Taris!" He points to the planet while staring at his master. "We'd be slaughtering countless innocent civilians. Not to mention our own troops."

Swiftly, the Sith Lord turns and faces the Admiral. "Your predecessor had once made the mistake of questioning my orders, Admiral. Surely you are not so foolish to make the same mistake?"

The Admiral recoils and begins to back away from his master. "Of...of course not my Lord Malak. I will do as you command. But it will take several hours to position our fleet."

Now frustraded Malak crosses his arms. "Then I suggest you begin immediately. You are dismissed, Admiral."

"Yes, Lord Malak." The Admiral, straightens, does a quick salute and leaves. The doors to the bridge close behind him. He rests the back of his head against the doors and sighs. This is not what he had planned would happen when he signed up to join the Sith.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Keira sits at the end of a luxurious bed. She closes her eyes and breathes in the sweet smells of this room. She can feel the delicate material beneath her fingers. Too bad they will not be here long enough for her to actually enjoy this room. She frowns at this idea.

"What?" Carth eyes her from across the room. For some reason he has decided to sit in just a plain chair instead of one of the more desirable ones.

She smiles. "Nothing. It's just too bad that we have to leave this room. The stay here was sounding better and better."

"Uh...huh." Carth crosses his arms and adjusts his feet as if uneasy. "Well, I think you get to have a few minutes at least. With Canderous gone to see those...uh...slaves...I'm sure we might be here a while."

Keira snorts inwardly. "That man..." She laughs a little at the thought of Canderous being served literally by a few female slaves. "I hope he doesn't provide us with any details."

Carth raises a brow in disgust. "You and me both sister."

Keira stretches her full length onto the bed with her hands above her head. "If I were a Cathar..." She says yawning. "...I would purr." She laughs to herself.

Then she notices Carth staring at her. He shakes his head and turns his attention back to the doors. He sighs inwardly, wondering what is taking that damn Mandalorian so long. How can all their efforts to get off the for saken planet lie in the hands of that mad man.

"Carth..."

"Yeah?" The captain turns his attention back to the bed, but finds that it's empty. A quick survey around the room finds him staring at the chair beside him.

"What happened?" She asks blankly, staring at the floor. "In the cantina, what happened?"

Surprised to see her right there and left to wonder how he did not notice her move spots, he pauses before he speaks. "I...Uh...A grenade went off. The bar tender said someone was yelling about being cheated in a pazaak game and then..."

Her head still lowered, she lifts her eyes to meet his. "You know what I mean."

Carth sighs. He leans back into his chair and rubs his free hand in his hair. "I...I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" She says a little aggravated.

He lifts his brow and doesn't say anything. He starts to say something but nothing comes out. Carth shrugs his shoulders and lets his head fall back against the chair.

"So that's it? You don't know?" Keira stands and begins making wild gestures with her hands. She paces the floor and voice begins to gain volume. "First, I...I practically offer myself to you...and then...you're all no...soldier and captain stuff..." She pulls out the band holding her hair to the back of her head. "Then...and then you're all...'hey Keira who took my clothes?'...and then you're all..." She straightens her black hair and then ties it up behind her head again. "And then...then there's the cantina." She says slumping her shoulders.

"And then...there's the cantina." He agrees, lost for words. Carth stands and holds Keira by her upper arms. Her eyes desperately pleading for some sort of explanation. "Look, I'm sorry. I should explain. I know. But now,..now's not the time. And..."

The apartment, prison doors open and Canderous walks in. "Well, well. Am I interrupting something?"

Carth releases the woman's shoulders and treads past the Mandalorian. "No. Where have you been?"

"Why the hostilitees, Republic?" The massive man adjusts the cigar in his mouth and smiles at the tiny woman in front of him. "You know, if he bugs you that much, I can take him out right now."

Keira brushes past him as well. "Tempting. How was your massage?"

Canderous moves his rifle to his other shoulder. "Great, actually. But could have been better if you..."

The Republic Captain comes to a stand still in his tracks. "Don't Ordo. Just don't!"

Canderous smirks knowing he hit a nerver in the up tight pilot. "What? I was only saying."

The trio manages to make their way through Daviks estate with ease. Only running into a few Rodian guards here and there. Canderous leads them through a series of halls and rooms.

"Alright. So the pilot Davik gets to fly his ship around should be in this room." Canderous uses his repeater to point to the doors. "There's probably a few droids in there we'll have to take out. Nothing we can't handle."

Keira nods and signals for Ordo to move forward. They enter the room and quickly dispatch of the droids.

"A field generator?" Keira dashes for the control panel and lets the poor pilot out. "Are you alright?"

The pilot falls to his knees, rubbing his temples. "Thanks. I don't know how much more of that I could handle. Thank-you."

Keira and Carth help the pilot to his feet. He staggers a bit and then leans up against the cool metal wall. "I'm Daviks pilot for the Ebon Hawk. I don't have anything that I can give for a reward for helping me." The pilot continues to rub his temples.

Keira takes a few steps closer to the man. "I couldn't just sit here and watch you suffer like that." She gives him a gentle smile. "But I have to admit, we could really use your help."

Confused, the pilot opens his eyes to meet hers. "My help?" He glances at each member of the trio.

Keira nods. "Yes. I'm assuming you have the codes we need to disable the security system guarding the ship."

The pilot smiles. "Of course. Anything. I guess it's the least I can do." He pulls out a data pad and hands it to the woman. "Again, thanks."

"Any time. Now you better get going. Things are going to get messy real fast here." She gives him a wink.

"Right. Thanks." The pilot dashes out the doors and leaves the estate.

The Mandalorian shifts his weight from one leg to the other. "Right. Now that we got those codes, we can steal the ship and pick up your friends. But we better make it quick."

"I'm sending Bastila the location of the pick up." Carth murmurers as he skims through his data pad. "For once I agree with you Canderous. I got a bad feeling, we need to get off this planet quick."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Still hovering above Taris, the Leviathan hums away. Malak still watches tirelessly out his window, as if trying to will Bastila to be captured. The doors to the bridge once more swoosh open and the Admiral again kneels before his master.

"Taris is defenseless against our assault, Lord Malak." He rises and stares at the back of his master. "They are offereing no resistance. The city is in ruins." The admiral lowers his head, waiting yet another command.

"Resume the bombardment, Commander. Whipe this pathetic planet from the face of the galaxy." Malak makes a fist and rises it to the window.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Davik and Calos bodies lie outside the Ebon Hawk under rubble and steel beams. Just before Calo had decided to pull the pin on his grenade, the Sith had commenced their aerial bombardment. A few of the laser beams had cut through the estate and caused it to come crashing down on their opponents. Now they are left with only one problem. Escaping Taris intact.

"Lets get this thing started already!" Ordo yells from the main area of the ship, trying to keep his balance as he staggers. Using the walls for support he makes his way to the cockpit. "Come on Republic! We've got to go now!"

"I know! But the engines need to warm. And I'm contacting Bastila to make sure she's at the extraction point with the others." Carth continues to push buttons and pull levers while the Mandalorian stands to the side observing. "We're almost ready. Keira get to those turrets, I have a feeling we'll have company once we leave." He shouts over his shoulder.

"What will you have me do?" Canderous asks, while wrapping the belt of his repeater over his left shoulder.

Stunned, Carth gives the Mandalorian a glance over his shoulder. "I need you to get to the ramp. Help the others get once when we reach them."

Canderous gives the captain a nod and heads for the ramp. "You got it slick!"

"Well, here goes nothing." Carth flips a few switches over head and they turn red. The engine hums to life and the ship begins to leave the ground. "Good, good. Now... just to get out of here." The pilot steers the ship without effort out of the garage.

The crew is rocked as a beam hits its side. The Hawk takes off and Carth steers it in the direction of the pick up point. "Good girl, you can handle this. No problem..."

Bastila shields her eyes with her hand from the sand whirling around as the Ebon Hawk comes near. The ramp opens and a massive man holds out a hand to her. "Come on girl. We've got to go. Now." Holding onto the hydrolicks shaft, Canderous stretches out his free arm and helps the others make their way up the ramp.

"Ok! We're good to go Republic!" Ordo yells. He pushes a button and the ramp closes. "Now you three better buckle up we are in for one hell of a ride!" He smiles and secures himself into one of the seats and the others follow suit.

Bastila charges for the cockpit and sits in the opposite pilots chair. "We need to hit hyper-drive!" She begins flicking switches and pressing buttons.

"I know...but we can't. Not yet. We need more time." Carth checks his radar. "Great, just great! Incoming fighters! Hold on!"

Keira pulls the triggers of the turrets. One after another the incoming ships are blown to pieces. "Right. Now one more...where are you hiding?"

A stream of blaster beams shower onto the Hawk. "Damn it! Get back here." Keiras beams follow close behind the fighter, but they miss their target. "Siths Blood!"

The fighter turns round and heads back to the Hawk. This time, it lets out a few beams, but they are all a direct hit. Keira's pit lights up with the explosion of sparks. Hissing and steam start to blow behind her chair. Sweat begins to form at her brow and a warm thick sensation begins to flow down over her eye and down her cheek.

"Enough." The scoundrel takes a deep breath, allows her turret to carefully follow the fighter. "That's it, come back." As if it heard her words, the fighter spins around and heads back. "Careful...careful." The turrets follow the ship up and down and then, just as it's about to fire on the Hawk, Keira pulls her triggers. The ship desintergrates before her eyes. "YES!"

Keira climbs down the latter and heads for the cockpit. "Ok. Lets hit hyper-drive." She smiles as she hangs on to the back of the seat where Bastila sits. "Good to have you back."

Bastila smiles and turns to face Keira. Her smile fades when she sees the blood dripping from the scoundrels face. "Force...are you alright?"

Confused, Keira dabs at her face with her fingers and is amazed to see thick red. "Oh...I'm fine. Just get us out of here."

Bastila nods. "Plot a course for Dantooine."

The captain looks at Keira, who shrugs her shoulders, and then at Bastila. "Dantooine? Wait a second. I think we need to get in contact with Admiral Dodana. The Republic needs to be updated on what's going on!"

"I understand, Carth. But I need to speak with the council about some...new developments. You will be able to contact your fleet from there." Bastila stands and heads towards the exit of the cockpit.

"But I don't think..."Carth begins after her.

Keira grabs his arm and pulls him back. "Carth, just let her go. Lets just go to Dantooine. We can figure out what to do from there."

The captain sighs and sits back into his chair. "Fine. Dantooine it is." He pushes a few buttons and the ships hyperdrive engine can be heard humming to life. "Now, you should go see what you can do about that cut."


End file.
